Since January, Portugal-based Valair Private Jets has been offering its customers line and base maintenance for all Cessna Citation CJ2 and CJ3 aircraft. This certification, along with its new hangar premises, allows Valair to respond positively to a lot of new customer demands. The company took on its own hangar at the beginning of this year. “Before, we were renting spaces in other hangar facilities in Cascais. This is the first hangar that we own directly,” says sales director Nuno Gomes da Silva.

The company is also waiting for new types approval for its maintenance organisation.

“Cascais is becoming more and more the most important executive airport for the Lisbon area,” he continues. “And with this additional capability, Valair is on the front line to fulfil all its current and future clients’ requests, both regarding hangar necessities and on maintenance requirements.

“The Portuguese government has established a protocol to transfer all the executive flights from Lisbon to Cascais. It wants to reduce the number of private jets at Lisbon as much as possible, and Cascais will be the default airport for all executive flights in the Lisbon area. It is much more convenient, it takes just five minutes for a client to board or to get out of the terminal, and it’s only 15 minutes away from the city centre. A new tower is under construction now as well as a new terminal and a firefighter building.”

Valair is in the process of adding new aircraft to its fleet. A Citation CJ2+ has already arrived and a PC12 NG is making its way over later in the year. These additions will bring the fleet to six aircraft in total; four Citation CJ3s, one Citation CJ2+ and the Pilatus. They will fly across all of Europe, the UK and north Africa.

“We focus on Cessna family,” explains Gomes da Silva. “We have the same pool of pilots, and the CJ3 and CJ2+ are very similar, both in performance and in the number of passengers. The PC12 is a new incorporation from a local partner, who used it for shorter flights inside Portugal and Spain. We will also offer charter hours on this one.

“But aircraft management is really at the core of our activities. Valair has a professional and dedicated operations control centre team available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to ensure the smooth running of any aircraft worldwide. This can involve such complex matters as aviation legislation compliance, aircraft maintenance coordination, staff recruitment and productive aircraft operation,” Gomes da Silva concludes.