Latvia-based KS Avia has announced plans to enter the business jet sector with the addition of a Raytheon Premier 1 to its fleet. The company already operates a charter cargo service and a 40-seat passenger aircraft, but a spokesman for the firm said it would use the Premier 1 to gauge the demand for business jets in the country.

“There is already one main company operating business jets in Latvia that wins all the major government contracts,” he said. However, that company operates different aircraft types, such as Hawkers.

KS Avia specifically chose the aircraft because it does not compete with the other company, also noting that it is ‘the best aircraft of its type on the market’.

“The country is too small and everyone knows each other. If you started to operate the same aircraft you would cross your competitors.”

The Premier 1 will be based in Riga and operate within Europe, initially as a private aircraft. The company hopes to begin chartering the aeroplane commercially next year. KS Avia has no plans to acquire any additional aircraft, though this depends on the performance and demand of the Premier 1.