Triple Alpha Luftfahrtgesellschaft has acquired a CitationJet. It has been operating the aircraft type since 1997 but when the opportunity arose to lease this aircraft from its French owner, Triple was eager to take it on.

Although the aircraft is now operating under a German AOC, it will operate as a charter aircraft from its base in Paris - a decision that generated a lot of confusion for the authorities.

Flight operations manager and general manager Hans Pfeiffer explained: "We were searching for an aircraft to buy but the owner of the 525 was asking too much money, so after some negotiation he eventually agreed to lease the aircraft to us.

"As it had been standing around for some time we made a number of technical upgrades before it was ready for operation. Its first charter mission was in January."

According to Pfeiffer, this is the first time that the Luftfahrt Bundesamt has approved a foreign aircraft. It turned out to be a learning experience for everyone concerned.

"The LBA are used to chartering out aircraft but not chartering in, so this was an experiment for us to see how Europe works. We saw that it doesn't work because no-one knows anything. The approval procedures in France work in a totally different way to those in Germany. The central organisations had no idea what was going on and we were totally unprepared for that."

He added: "If you want to work in Germany, it's no problem. Bring your car here and it becomes tricky. Bring an aircraft and it's impossible."

Pfeiffer maintains that the experience has not put the company off managing a similar arrangement in the future, however.

"It's been a big lesson for us. We've learned that communication is everything. People don't talk to each other and you lose time while they try for two weeks to send you a fax using the wrong fax number. But we're very happy with the arrangement and we would do it again," he said.

Pfeiffer is confident in the 525's abilities. "For entry-level customers it's the ideal machine. It fits perfectly for Europe and as a hop-around it's a classic air taxi aircraft." Triple's fleet already consists of three CitationJets, a Citation II and a Citation V.