With a list value in excess of US$7.8 billion, VistaJet is hailing its order for 56 new Bombardier Global aircraft plus 86 options the single largest transaction ever placed with an aircraft manufacturer in business aviation.

The value of the firm order is approximately $3.1 billion at 2012 prices and comprises 25 Global 5000, 25 Global 6000 and six Global 8000 jets. Deliveries are set to begin in January 2014 with one a month arriving thereafter.

A policy of retiring aircraft in the fleet as they reach just three to four years old means that many from this new order will be replacements. "This is the most significant milestone for VistaJet and is a testimony to our strategy that focuses on global coverage," Flohr says. "Earlier in the year we announced landmark agreements with partners in China and Russia and, since then, the level of demand we have seen in growth markets around the globe has been unprecedented. Such customer success allows us to place this historic order and will enable us to base more new aircraft in these growth markets."

Another major order this year came from fractional operator NetJets, as reported in July's EBAN. However, Thomas Flohr, VistaJet founder and chairman, believes fractional ownership to be a broken business model, stating in a Fox News interview that people do not want to invest into such assets anymore, but would rather invest their cash and liquidity into growing their own businesses. Flohr has also revealed that VistaJet's huge order was driven by growth of 25 per cent in 2012, in no small part due to the decision to fast-track fleet growth to provide point-to-point global coverage for growth markets including Russia, China, the Middle East and Africa, connecting them to the rest of the globe.

VistaJet is doubling its dedicated sales force for the emerging markets to establish further presence during Q1 2013.