Zenith Aviation has welcomed the first of two additional Learjet 75s to its fleet, and is expecting the second to arrive later this month. The aircraft join two existing Learjet 75s and one LR45 based at London Biggin Hill. MD Stuart Mulholland notes a marked increase in bookings as we enter the spring season. "Q1 is typically one of the quieter periods of the year for us but now, each month gets busier than the last. In February we had the ski season and a school half term, and March has been a very good month for us.

"Bookings are already looking strong for the bulk of the summer with several days where we have no availability remaining. Based on last year's performance with the LR75s, we are extremely optimistic for another bumper season."

Zenith is the only operator in the UK to fly the Learjet 75 commercially. "We are of course looking to diversify the business and build on our managed aircraft portfolio, and have several leads going that will hopefully result in some larger Bombardier aircraft joining the fleet," continues Mulholland.

"As for our engineering division, it is very busy most days of the week. It supports our flight ops first and foremost, but is becoming increasingly busy with third party inputs. Like similar organisations, we are just struggling for facilities and people. There seems to be a shortage of available qualified licensed engineers in the region that we can call on.

"Hopefully, 2018 will enable us to build on what was achieved last year and with the new aircraft arriving the outlook remains extremely positive."