A background in Bentley and Aston Martin luxury car dealerships is the unusual grounding for the manage-ment of a new charter operation using two Cessna 303 aircraft. Based at the rapidly expanding Oxford airport in the UK,

Oasis Flight aims to be operating with its own AOC from mid-May offering "affordable private air travel to Europe." Oasis Flight md Robert Foster told EBAN that he had identified a need for a low cost, flexible charter option for his extensive former customer base, which has defined the choice of cabin class piston aircraft for this fleet.

The typical client will be a business executive travelling to a European city, probably on a day return schedule. The Cessna can reach most central Europe destinations from Oxford. Although it doesn't offer the comfort of a jet, Foster maintains the service and pricing that Oasis Flight will be able to offer will more than compensate.

Despite offering smaller aircraft than some customers had become used to, Oasis Flight intends offering a first class service. "We know we can't give an easyJet experience on a private flight" Foster says. He also doesn't want Oasis Flight thought of as an air taxi operation.

The business plan calls for the operation of no more than four aircraft over the next five years, and the fleet will continue to be based around piston cabin class aircraft. Oxford, Foster says, has a wide range of aviation businesses at the airport, and might provide mutual sub-contracting opportunities.