Elaine Young, new ceo at Southampton based charter operator Club 328, is focusing company strategy ever more closely on lifestyle oriented private travel rather than frequent flyer services.

Young, appointed following the death in the autumn of former ceo Mike Farge, joins the firm from easyJet where she was director of the Business Improvement Programme.

Over the next 12 months, the firm plans to acquire and refurbish two more 14 seat Dornier 328s. It will also investigate the provision of aircraft management services and the offering of guaranteed hours to owners.

"This is a boom time for the private aviation sector," Young says, "and I believe Club 328 is ideally positioned to take advantage of the opportunities presenting themselves."

Club 328 has secured partnership deals with quality Mediterranean hotels to offer seamless service from booking to final destination. It now offers Powdermonkey, a 100 ft yacht for charter which can complement, but is not contingent on, air charter arrangements.

The yacht has five luxurious en suite cabins and large cherry wood panelled saloon. The saloon also offers plasma TV, DVD and music system and all cabins are equipped with flat screen TVs, DVDs and stereos. Powdermonkey is available for charter from u65,000 a week or u7,000 to u9,000 a day.

Club 238 now also offers high level, but discreet, chaperone security through specialist company Veritas International Consultants. Veritas specialises in minimising risk through detailed planning, management

and intelligence.

Young told EBAN: "The fight between full service airlines and their low cost rivals continues to result in falling standards of inflight service and overcrowded hub airports make dedicated business airports such as Farnborough, Northolt and London Biggin Hill ever more appealing. Bespoke charter is synonymous with time efficiency, privacy and satisfaction in the skies.

"Business travellers are frequently working to meet tight timescales and cannot risk any delays, which have been prevalent in recent times." She points out: "Flying privately enables corporate travellers to take in meetings in two or three cities in one day without the need to overnight. Slowly but surely, more by necessity than choice, people are looking for alternative modes of transport; and private charter is one of those ways."

She says that private aviation "continues to evolve from a luxury of the highest paid corporate jet setters to something more of a business tool used by mid-level managers and the upper middle class."

Young began working life as a police officer in Nottingham in 1985, switching careers to join bmi British Midland as a member of cabin crew, rising to become operations gm. She has been a UK CAA post holder for 10 years and is a member of Blake's International Emergency Services and Crisis Management team.

She graduated top of her year from Nottingham University during a sabbatical from easyJet in 2004.