Solid Air, which is building intercontinental charter capacity and expanding its bases in Holland, has brought an Avanti II and a Falcon 50EX into service. They join a CJI, two Bravos, three Ultras, three VIs and two Dornier 328s taking the Solid Air fleet to 13 aircraft.

The Falcon 50EX, configured for nine passengers, is helping to meet established demand for intercontinental business, says sales and marketing manager Jerome van der Schaar. Factors in the choice included the 50EX 3,075 n.m. range and fuel efficiency. He adds: "There is also a lot of demand for the Avanti II, particularly from the U.K."

The ongoing fleet expansion follows the close cooperation agreement late last year of Solid Air and JetSupport to form a full service Dutch aviation company. A large new hangar at Eindhoven has opened, taking the number of hangars to five, and further long range aircraft, including a second Falcon 50EX, could be added to the fleet later this year.

Solid Air ceo and co-founder Huub van den Hout recently signed a PPS flight planning software upgrade contract for the 50EX operation. He was a launch customer for PPS about 17 years ago in his earlier business when Air Support was founded by Per Jensen, a Danish pilot and software engineer.