Online broker PrivateFly has added a number of new members to its international team, as the company expands its product offering and its global reach. Building on the strength of demand it has seen throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the company has invested in new hires from both inside and outside the aviation sector to grow the business to meet current and expected demand into 2021.

Among the appointments is Annelies Garcia, who joined earlier in the year as commercial director to boost PrivateFly's senior leadership team. With an extensive sales management background in private education and healthcare, most recently at Sommet Education, she now oversees PrivateFly's global sales and operations.

Steven Warner-Gould has also recently joined the team as jet card sales director. Previously head of private jets at Air Partner, with 10 years of jet card sales experience, he will spearhead PrivateFly's 2021 sales plans for its new jet card programme, which launched in August.

The growing jet card sales team also includes Anatole Demonceaux, who was appointed as jet card sales manager in October, bringing over four years of industry sales experience from NetJets.

In recent weeks PrivateFly has made further new appointments in its multilingual sales and client services team, including Deborah Sun, who will focus on increasing sales for clients in China and Asia, and Sofya Eynon, with experience of private charter sales in the Russian market from boutique luxury travel broker QuantumVia.

Adam Twidell, PrivateFly CEO, says: “It's been a rollercoaster year but as we near the end of 2020 we remain ahead of last year's sales, we have outperformed the market in Europe and our jet card sales have started strongly since we launched in August. Our fantastic team is key to that success. While tech and innovation are essential ingredients for PrivateFly's offering, we know that passionate, positive people with the right skills are what has always made us stand out in the market. We are delighted to have been able to create new roles in the highly-experienced PrivateFly team at a time when jobs in the wider aviation industry and other sectors are under serious threat.

“2021 is set to be an exciting year for us as we continue to expand our reach in international markets and to accelerate our jet card and jet account product offerings. As our growth continues, we will continue to look for excellent people to join us. This expansion is made possible by the backing of our parent group, Directional Aviation, which has demonstrated continued growth throughout the pandemic, across its brands. Its confident leadership and agility have helped to steer us through this unprecedented time and to seize new and exciting opportunities.”