Manhattan Jet Charter has taken delivery of the first UK-registered Premier 1 at the Farnborough International Air Show 2004. The company chose the aircraft to replace its turboprop fleet and meet the growing demands of its clients.

NAC, the sole sales agent for Beechcraft and Hawker aircraft in the UK, handed over the aircraft in the Business Aviation Park on the first day of the show. Director Brian Jones told EBAN that NAC was considering adding aircraft management to its range of services, with a view to obtaining an AOC to undertake charter operations in the future.

EBAN caught up with Manhattan Jet Charter md Trevor Jones at FIA2004. “We’ve decided to go for

the Premier 1 as a single aircraft operation,” he said. “The plan will be to have three of these operating within the next 12 months.”

The company has been operating Raytheon Beechcraft aircraft for 20 years, most recently with three

King Air 200s, which, as Jones explained, had served their useful purpose for the company.

“I felt that we were fairly restricted with the King Air 200s; we had done mostly all we could do with them and this new aeroplane launches us on to a different platform,” he said.

“The change in direction represents what I believe is a change in requirements in the charter market and Manhattan Jet Charter has a lot of experience with moving people around Europe.”

Jones believes that, due to its relatively short-range operations, with key destinations including the south coast of France, Italy, Poland and Prague, the Premier 1 is the ideal aircraft to move the company forward into the jet charter market.

“We analysed our extensive database and realised that we had not seen some of our clients for some time. Further investigation revealed that they wanted faster aircraft,” said Jones.

“I believe that there is a market for short range jet charter. A lot of companies are using more capital-intensive aeroplanes but they are still making the same flights that the Premier 1 can make.

“We aim to offer sensible prices with an aircraft that can achieve similar speeds as the Lear 45 and, so long as the aircraft doesn’t need to land and refuel, it is very economical and will take on any other small jet up to and including the Lear 45.

“We think you’d be hard pressed to beat this aircraft in terms of performance and cost-effectiveness,” he added.

The company looked into acquiring a CJ2 two years ago but decided against the purchase due to the uncertainty of the market at the time. Having observed something of an upturn in the market lately, Manhattan Jet Charter saw the opportunity to take a step up the ladder and contend with other UK jet charter operators with the purchase of the Premier 1.

“We looked at other products on the market and were very surprised to find that the Premier 1 is about 40 knots faster than the CJ2 and, having spoken to our clients, we recognised that they wanted the comfort, cabin space, speed and price that the aircraft offers,” said Jones.

“When we started looking at the Premier 1, which was a relatively new aeroplane, I was very impressed with its performance and the operating cost, which is virtually identical to a CJ2.”

Manhattan Jet Charter aims to achieve about 500 hours of charter flights per year, a figure that will change as new aircraft are introduced into the fleet.

A second Premier 1 is due to arrive in the UK by the end of July but, as Jones explains, there is plenty of room in the market for more operators of the aircraft.

“We know the company quite well so we’ll be working together rather than against each other. That’s the way it has always been in this industry,” he concluded.