G5 Executive reports that it is experiencing growing demand for its charter services and it appears to be coming from unexpected areas. "We've always had a very good global client base ranging from the Far East, Middle East and Africa, to South America and Europe," said John Curry, the company's ceo.

"And like many other charterers, we've seen an increase from Russia and the Far East, but our clients keep coming from all sorts of different places that we've never expected them to come from."

He continued: "We get individuals that we've often never heard of from different parts of Europe and find ourselves wondering where they've come from. Then, here they are flying on a Gulfstream V!"

To keep pace with this global demand, the company has recently added a Gulfstream G550, a G450 and an Embraer Legacy 600 to its charter fleet. The Legacy 600 is a replacement for one that was recently sold and it joins G5's fleet this month.

Apart from meeting demand, there were a number of other factors which influenced the fleet additions: "We've had our GV since 1998 and are now approaching 10,000 hours with it. The first G550, which we've had since 2004, is up to 2,600 hours, so our fleet is being heavily used. We had the opportunity to take on a few more aircraft so, naturally, we took them on," said Curry.

"The G450, which was delivered in March this year, was taken on to fill a gap for us in transatlantic flights - with routes from Europe to the US east coast or to the Middle East, you don't need the range of

the GV, you don't use the full capabilities of the G550 and the Legacy 600 can't really cope with that range, so the G450 suits us perfectly."

The G550 has already received very positive reactions from the company's passengers: "Our customers love it because on the long haul flights, they benefit from lower cabin pressure - the G550 has a 4,000 foot cabin rather than the 8,500 feet you get on everything else. This means it is always popular for long range flights.

"The reliability of the aircraft is also exceptional. We've not had any downtime with it because of things that have gone wrong, it just keeps on working. It's really a testament to Gulfstream and the way they bolt it together," he added.

Curry is equally impressed impressed by the Legacy: "Embraer's support is also excellent. Although

it started life as a commercial aircraft, that has actually helped the Legacy because it means you can run as many cycles as you like and you're still not going to get near its design limits. It is also a very reliable aircraft and very easy to maintain," he concluded.