Danish operator Air Alsie has registered a CitationJet 2, which will be based at the company’s headquarters in Sonderborg. The company operates the aircraft on behalf of an owner, and vice director Henrik Therkelsen was frank about why the aircraft was picked and how it was suited to its operations.

He said: “To be honest, we normally follow what the owner wants and then we try to find a suitable market for the aircraft. For the owner this aircraft was a good compromise, as he previously had a CitationJet but wanted to have a little more range, a bit more space in the cabin and better toilet facilities. But for us, one of the main advantages of this aircraft is that it can reach London which, apart from the Falcon 2000EX EASy we’ve also recently registered, none of our other aircraft can.”

Therkelsen said he expected the CJ2 would be used by Air Alsie 60 per cent of the time and would mostly be operating throughout Scandinavia. So far customer reaction has been positive, but as Therkelsen points out, “Of course, it’s proving very popular, but then again when it comes to new aircraft, the smell of new leather is always popular!”

Alongside the CJ2, the company also operates a CitationJet, a Hawker 800, two Falcon 2000s, and the recently registered 2000EX EASy, and whilst Air Alsie has no immediate plans to expand their fleet further, Therkelsen was cautiously optimistic about the Scandinavian market , saying: “Well, we’ve seen it pretty stable here over the years. But as in most other aviation areas currently there is a small pick-up, we think. But again most of our market is out of Scandinavia and that’s proved to be generally stable.”