A Cessna Citation V Ultra is the first of three new additions to be delivered to Solid Air this year.

The other additions, a 12 seater Dornier 328 and a Cessna Citation VI, are due at the beginning of October, on September 2006, respectively.

Rod Buijs, commercial director and co-owner of Solid Air, said: "The Ultra was delivered on March, 1 and was added to our AOC by the middle of the month.

"We chose the Ultra because we already operate two Bravos, but they don't have the range our customers require, so we were looking for an aircraft that was between the Citation VI and the Citation Bravo in price and distance. The Ultra was the best solution for this as it has a range of roughly 1,600nm.

"Also, the performance of the Citation Ultra is in our interest because we operate into smaller airports like St Tropez, and we can only fly into that airport in the CJ1.

"We are receiving more and more requests to fly into smaller airports such as St Tropez, and the Ultra is one of the few only larger aircraft that can operate into Le Mans."

The customers' reaction to the aircraft has been difficult to gauge because it is so similar to the Bravos. Buijs says passengers are often unaware which aircraft they are on.

The aircraft will be based at Amsterdam where Solid Air opened new offices in July last year. Since opening up, Buijs says the market has been picking up for the company and one of the reasons for this is having an aircraft stationed permanently at the airport.

Solid Air are currently looking to buy an intercontinental class aeroplane to increase the service they can offer to their customers. The final decision on which model they choose will be made in the next six months and Buijs hopes it will be added to their fleet by the end of the year.