Norwich, UK-based SaxonAir has been named as a European sales agent for Nextant Aerospace, and will be the exclusive representative for the manufacturer in the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and Ireland.

“As the UK emerges from its austerity programmes, there is a strong focus on value for money,” says Christopher Mace, SaxonAir commercial director. “The great thing about the 400XTi is that there is no trade-off between price and performance.”

The operator's £7 million business aviation centre headquarters in Norwich will provide showroom facilities for Nextant products.

Adds Mace: “The expectation is that we are going to manage a 400XTi for the owner. This is great, because it is going to kick-start other aircraft deliveries and sales into the UK. It will obviously be available for demonstrations as well.”

Mace is keen to praise its performance: “It is very comparable with other, new generation aircraft such as the Citation CJ3, CJ4 or Phenom 300. But of course being a remanufactured aircraft, it is a lot cheaper to purchase, so we are looking at a saving of over three million dollars between a new aircraft and a remanufactured Nextant.

“Three million dollars can go towards paying a lot of the running costs of the aircraft for many years.

“When we talk to potential clients, they are talking to the other manufacturers but are looking at the Nextant as a close competitor.”

Remanufacturing is relatively new term for the industry, and it is a process which Nextant has been developing for a number of years. The process involves taking an older generation aircraft and stripping it right down, installing updated avionics, new engines, enhancing performance by installing winglets, as well as smaller aspects such as new wiring. It emerges from the factory with a warranty and has zero hours.

“It is still a great aircraft, and they were manufactured by Hawker up until 2009. They were selling well and were operated by NetJets. It just takes it into a modern era.,” he concludes.