Ohlair, the German taxi charter company based at Kiel Airport, has seen its business grow since buying a Cessna CitationJet 525A in August last year.

The company already own a Cessna Conquest II. It decided to buy the jet to enhance the service it could offer to its clients.

Bernd Radeck, general manager of Ohlair and chief pilot, said: "We have a good client base, about 90 per cent are businessmen who need to travel throughout Europe.

"We fly to Russia, we fly to Spain. There is no one particular destination that stands out from the others.

"The Cessna CJ2 can seat five or six people very comfortably making it ideal for taxi charter use, although most times we carry three or four.

"It comes in the next future generation of small aircraft on the market. There are also advantages in buying a new aircraft. Parts are quick and easy to get hold of, if anything goes wrong with it we can have it back in the air within 24 hours, and it is covered by a five-year-warranty, of course.

"The performance of the Citation is also very good. We now fly in the region of 350 hours, and this is increasing steadily each year."

Customer reaction to the jet has been very positive and it has attracted new customers. Radeck continues: "We have different customers for the two aircraft. The price for the Conquest is lower, but business is going to the jet.

"There's nothing I'd want to change about the CJ2. It climbs to 45,000 feet in 21 minutes and it's quick. It's a very nice aircraft.

The company has no plans to add to its fleet in the immediate future, but if business continues to grow, then there is every possibility that it will expand.