Swiss operator Speedwings has added a Citation V Ultra to its fleet. It is the company’s third aircraft and joins another Geneva-based Citation V Ultra, which it acquired three years ago, and a Citation II.

The aircraft will be used for flights within Central Europe, Central and Northern Africa, the Middle East and to Eastern Europe.

Speedwings has seen a lot of demand for the latest addition to its fleet, having flown more than 90 hours in one month since the company began operating it. According to post holder ground operations Ronan Hubert, Speedwings normally makes about 400 hours of charter flight per year, a figure it expects to rise to between 1,000 and 1,200 hours.

“Everybody wants to fly with it because it’s new,” said Hubert. “It was built in 1994 but has been entirely refurbished with new engines, a new interior, leather and instruments.

“The Citation V Ultra has more speed and is more comfortable than the Citation II but the Citation II has the advantage of being cheaper, and ours is the only one in Europe to have 11 seats.

“It was certified by Cessna to have 11 seats, so we have had lots of success with this aircraft because, with 11 seats at 3,500 Swiss Francs per hour, it is very cheap,” he added.

The company would like to acquire a Falcon 900 in the future, but remains realistic about the type

of aircraft that fit best into its charter fleet.

”We may be interested to have a Falcon 900 but it’s not really the ideal type of aircraft for our company,” said Hubert. “I think, being reasonable, it may be interesting for us to have an Embraer Legacy or something like that, but it’s not really possible for our company as we’re too small.”

In terms of the strength of the charter market in Switzerland, Hubert has noticed some interesting trends: “It’s crazy! We were created seven years ago and every year it’s the same – the big market is from mid-May to the end of September. The rest of the year it’s not really good and, of course, January and February are very poor.

“I think the economical situation in Europe is a little bit better, except the petrol market,” he said. “In all the kinds of flying we do, 80 per cent of our clients are businessmen and I think, with the current economical situation in Europe, the business market is quite good.”