UK-based Bookajet, in partnership with Club Airways, is expanding its on-demand charter service with an order for seven of Avcraft’s Envoy Executive aircraft, plus six options. The company aims to replace its Hawker 125s and Cessnas but will keep some of Club Airways’ Citations for route development.

At this year’s EBACE, Bookajet ceo Warren Seymour said: “We’ve analysed a huge number of aeroplanes, like the Legacy, Falcon-type and Hawker-type aircraft and it basically comes down to operating costs. The cost of operating this aircraft is very similar to the 125 but it offers double the capacity.

“Also I like the idea of an aircraft that has been designed for regional operations – offering high utilisation – being put in corporate capability because you get structural integrity and normally good on-time performance,” he continued, “which the airlines demand, but that’s being passed on to the corporate environment.

“The downside of this aeroplane is that it’s slow, but it’s not as if we’re operating this in America or Australia; in Europe you’re talking about flying from Paris to London in an additional two or three minutes. London to Geneva is maybe another five minutes,” said Seymour.

“Because the cabin is so sumptuous, particularly the way we’re going to set it up, it makes

little difference.”

Six of the Envoy’s will be in 14-seat configuration and the seventh, a shuttle version, will feature a variable cabin configuration carrying up to 32 passengers.

The aircraft will feature computer data ports, telephone connections, dvd video and a partitioned boardroom area in the rear. Bookajet’s aim is to provide two sections – one predominantly for meetings, which will also be converted into a sleeping area, and the other for passenger seating.

The first two aircraft delivered will be based in Geneva and the rest will be stationed either in Geneva or the United Kingdom.

According to Seymour, the Club Airways business plan calls for six aircraft over two years, based

across Europe.

“We’ve not publicly announced this in the UK and have already received quite a number of bookings,” said Seymour. “We believe that, if you look at charter operators in Europe, every one of them has got eight or 10 seater aeroplanes.

“To be successful, you’ve got to be a little different. If you look around, there’s a hole in the market between 10 and 40 seats,” he added. “The aircraft will be used, for sure, for the dog-and-pony shows [meetings and presentations].

“The one with the variable configuration will be used by football clubs and it will also be used by

pop groups because of what can be put in the back.”

Bookajet intends to look into smaller aircraft in the future. “The new ones on the horizon, the five or six passenger aircraft with very low operating and procurement costs, they interest us,” Seymour concluded.