Austria’s JetAlliance has added a brand new Cessna CJ2 to its fast expanding fleet of managed aircraft. After flying the light jet back from the States via Iceland, head of asset management Alex Vagacs told EBAN that he was very impressed with its performance.

“I could really feel the increased thrust on the engines, as compared with the CJ1,” said Vagacs. “The cabin is very quiet and during cruise, you have really low engine noise in the interior. The aircraft has very good performance data, it’s nicely equipped with a light beige interior and it has state-of-the-art avionics.

“Also, they’ve added another row in the cabin so it looks and feels much bigger than the CJ1.”

JetAlliance’s client paid US$5.8 million for this particular CJ2, which according to Vagacs is about $1.5 million more than a CJ1 right now. The most impressive part for him, is that for all the improvements you get with the later model, it has basically the same operating costs.

“What’s more, the weight class is still below 5.7 tonnes,” he said, “which makes landing fees and over flight fees relatively cheap.”

Located in south central Europe, JetAlliance observes that Vienna is an ideal spot from which to operate this aircraft. People have chartered it to Greece, the UK and northern parts of Europe, and are now asking especially to fly in the CJ2.

“It’s flying more than 50 hours a month, which is pretty impressive for this size of aircraft,” said Vagacs.

When deciding on which aeroplane to purchase, JetAlliance’s client considered several different options – both new and used – including the Piaggio Avanti, CJ1, the Citation Bravo and various Learjets.

Said Vagacs: “He compared as many models as possible but the CJ2 stood out as the number one choice because it offered the best value at that price. He particularly wanted a jet because it looks more modern, is easier to charter out and the interior is very quiet.

“If you look at the Citation line, the retail value is very stable as well.”

JetAlliance operates 23 aircraft in total, ranging from a Citation jet up to an MD-83. The company says it has enjoyed much success in building up a large fleet quite quickly because of word of mouth passed around by its ‘loyal’ customers and because it is happy to base aircraft away from Austria, in locations such as Moscow, Kiev, Bucharest and Kuwait.

“As investors move further east, that increases demand to these destinations. Not only do people want to charter aircraft there, they are also keen to base their aircraft in these locations,” Vagacs concluded.