On January 30, Germany operator Cirrus Aviation took delivery of Europe’s only Learjet 40. This was one of the first five Learjet 40s to be delivered anywhere in the world. The other four aircraft were dispatched

to North America.

Director of communications and public affairs at Bombardier Europe, Alec McRitchie said: “The aircraft itself was launched at Farnborough in 2002, so it’s a very recent programme.

“We’re very hopeful for the aircraft, it’s received a lot of very positive interest among potential customers and we certainly will be delivering more in Europe in the coming

year,” he continued.

“The aircraft does look stunning – the livery is all black, which is

the colour they requested to fit in with their fleet of all white and

black aircraft!”

We also spoke to the director of sales and marketing for Cirrus,

Michael Schultheis, to find out more about the company’s motive behind purchasing the aircraft.

“It is a new aircraft and we are the first company in Europe to acquire one of these,” he said. “It has a capacity for six passengers. We chose it because we already have different kinds of Learjet – we are one of the biggest Learjet operators in Germany,” he continued. “We have two Learjet 60, one Learjet 55 and the Learjet 40 is perfect for airports where there is a shorter runway.”

There was a ceremony to mark the delivery of the Learjet 40, with a presentation being made in front of press and media.

“There was customer demand for this aircraft and we sold flights with the aircraft straight away,” Schultheis told us. “There are also a lot of requests from brokers and companies. We have had a big IT company from Germany join our customer base solely because of this aircraft.”

Cirrus expects to fly approximately 600 hours per year in the Learjet 40.

“We have a business plan to acquire a further four aircraft over the next year, but we’re not sure exactly which kind of aircraft they will be yet. But we think they will be mid-sized or large aircraft,” he said.

“The German charter market is growing, because a lot of passengers prefer to fly on executive jets,” he continued. “This is due to the time that is saved, by not having to queue and check in. It is cost-effective to professional individuals, because they can travel when they need to, directly to where they need to go.”

Schultheis concluded: “We are very happy with Bombardier and we have a very good relationship with them and look forward to this continuing.”