Spain's Gestair Group is on target to double the size of its overall operations within two years with at least 10 more of its own aircraft operating by 2010, according to Jose Ramon Barriocanal, gm private aviation. "We want more of our own aircraft on our AOC," he adds.

The current owned and managed fleet numbers 28 and spans short, medium and long range aircraft including Citations, Hawkers, Legacies, the Global Express and Falcons, although only five are owned by Gestair.

The company has already taken delivery of its second Hawker 900XP and a Citation Mustang which it says is the first registered in Spain. The Mustang is chartered at E2,100 an hour and it is already flying around 55 hours a month in Spain, France and Italy.

"The Mustang is bringing in new business from small and medium companies," says Barriocanal. "There is demand for charter on a broad European basis as well as in Spain. "We see this as an opportunity to introduce a whole new sector to lower fare private aviation."

But despite the strong emphasis on fleet expansion Barriocanal says there will be no compromise on quality. "We could get to 50 or 60 aircraft on our AOC very quickly but that is not what we want. We prefer to expand at a rate where we can maintain the high standard of service that the market has come to expect from us."

Gestair is intent on identifying business opportunities. "We are looking to increase our 36 per cent share of the Spanish business aviation market substantially," says Barriocanal. "However we are analysing data on a Europe-wide basis. We are interested in new acquisitions not just from among air charter companies but also regarding FBOs and allied maintenance companies."