Solairus Aviation has achieved a record number of flights, fleet expansion and employee growth in 2023, continuing its form each year since its launch in 2009. The growth came primarily from long range, large cabin and super mid-size aircraft owners who accounted for 87 per cent of new additions and who make up 88 per cent of the 325 aircraft fleet.

Solairus manages a diverse range of aircraft from all the leading OEMs, with the long range, large cabin and super mid-size aircraft representing a majority of the fleet. The company added 18 ultra-long-range aircraft in 2023 and ended the year with 134, up 16 per cent. The large cabin fleet now stands at 103 aircraft, while super-mids account for 45 aircraft. These are split between Gulfstream (127 aircraft), Bombardier (111) and Dassault (41), while Embraer accounted for the largest fleet growth last year at 20 per cent. More than half the fleet operates on Part 91 only and about one quarter of the total is available for third party charter.

"I am humbled and energised by the faith and trust owners place in us to safely manage and support their flight departments," says CEO Dan Drohan. "We have a remarkable, growing team of dedicated aviation professionals, and we strive every day to deliver the best, personalised ownership experience to each client we are fortunate enough to serve. One of our founding goals was to become big enough to matter while remaining small enough to care. Certainly, this type of growth makes us big enough to matter. We work tirelessly, every day, to remain small enough to care."

Solairus clients flew close to 35,000 flights and 74,000 flight hours in 2023, going to 1,334 airports in 126 countries and all 50 US states. The company's 10 most visited airfields were Teterboro, San Jose, Bedford, White Plains, Van Nuys, West Palm Beach, Chicago, Miami, Dallas and Oakland, while the five most commonly visited foreign countries were Mexico, UK, Italy, France and Canada.

To support its clients, the company added 320 aviation professionals last year, increasing its full and part-time staff to 2,099, of which 230 were full-time pilots, 56 maintenance supervisors and 29 flight attendants. The company now employs 1,866 full and part-time crew members, and continues to look for more than 300 candidates for 2024. As part of this effort it will be at the 2024 NBAA Miami-Opa Locka Regional Forum in Florida in order to meet qualified captains and maintenance supervisors.