KlasJet, based in Vilnius, Lithuania, has been launched as a new operator by the Avia Solutions Group. The founding group believes that recent trends in eastern Europe, the CIS and Russia will prove fertile ground for business aviation in the near future. It is anticipated that KlasJet will operate at airports in the EU and Russia.

The company will initially operate two Challenger 850s and hopes to have up to 10 corporate jets by 2018, including Legacys and Hawkers.

“Our pilots and stewardesses speak English, Russian and other languages fluently, thus ensuring smooth communication with the client during the flight,” says ceo Vitalij Kapitonov.

“As the global aviation industry continues to maintain its stable recovery rates, corporate and private customers are starting to turn back towards business aviation as their preferred means of travel. While the western European market is still quite unstable, the demand for vip flights in the CIS region is growing by 2-5% per year,” Kapitonov explains.

“Having carefully analysed and evaluated this trend, we have decided to enter the business charter market.”

Kapitonov reports that between 800 and 850 business aviation flights are being performed in Russia as well as central and eastern Europe every day. “This is well beyond the statistics of the pre-crisis period, so the strength of the segment within the region will only increase in the foreseeable future. Of course, the Middle East market also has an exceptional potential, and we plan to gain customers there too.”

The operator's primary focus is on purchasing aircraft and staffing them with its own crews. However, Kapitonov is not ruling out management contracts in the future. Approval processes are under way and he hopes to receive the AOC in the coming weeks.