NetJets Europe has trebled its order for Gulfstream G550s, in order to meet the substantial demand the company has attracted since ordering the first long range aircraft.

The first aircraft was sold out long before its May delivery and, according to NetJets Europe coo David Marcus, the other two aircraft will have sold out by the time they arrive in October and the first quarter of 2006.

“The demand for long range capability is enormous,” Marcus told EBAN. “I think there’s a massive pent up demand in central Europe, Russia and now Eastern Europe and I think this has not yet been satisfied.”

The company forecasts that it will break even in the fourth quarter of this year, on the basis of sales and operational cost budgets. “Once we’re above that line, we’ll stay there. This is very much a critical mass business; you need to make the investment.”

With the number of new aircraft announced recently, and the hot topic of very light jets operating in Europe, NetJets’ fleet development policy is somewhat cautious – testing the water before taking the plunge with untested business models.

“We assess aircraft on the quality and reliability of the manufacturer and the product itself,” said Marcus. “It’s very important that they have a good history of supporting the aeroplanes. We are immensely conservative about the aircraft we purchase; we buy what we consider to be the best value, best made, best supported products.

“I am yet to be convinced that the very light jets can be operated commercially, because the moment you start operating these aircraft commercially, you will be using a two man crew – very few commercial operations would operate an aircraft with a single pilot.”

Marcus says that there is clearly an application for the aircraft for entrepreneurs and businessmen who fly the aircraft themselves, and would look more closely at the aircraft once they enter ‘real world’ operation.

NetJets Europe has witnessed growing interest in business aviation from eastern Europe and Russia,

and the European market in general

is something it considers to be relatively ‘untapped.’

“There was a misjudged perception that Europeans weren’t using these types of aeroplanes. Seventy per cent of our sales are going to people who have never used business aviation, which demonstrates that we are creating the market,” he added.

“I have reached the conclusion that Europeans will use business aviation just as readily as Americans – they just need to have demonstrated to them that using them is simple, safe, straightforward and acceptable, offering productivity gains.”

Marcus believes that the European market ultimately has the potential to become 50 per cent larger than the US market, if only the speed of its acceptance matched the potential.