German operator FAI rent-a-jet has acquired 60 per cent of Swiss Challenger operator Nomad Aviation and is also building a new 2,500m2 hangar combined with 1,000m2 additional office space at Nuremberg airport.

Chairman Siegfried Axtmann says: "FAI will bundle most of its activities in high-end executive charter aircraft and aircraft management within its new Swiss subsidiary while FAI Germany will focus on air ambulance and NGO contract services."

The reorganisation comes as FAI brings into service a new Falcon 900DX which Axtmann says is "loaded with more than $3 million in options and represents the latest cockpit and cabin technology available on the market."

The Falcon 900DX brings the FAI fleet to 11 aircraft complementing the Learjets 35A, 55 and 60 and Challenger 604. FAI says it has invested more than €5m in the new hangar project at Nuremberg with groundbreaking scheduled for September this year. It will be able to accommodate aircraft up to the size of the BBJ.

"FAI is one of the few companies in general aviation not much affected by the financial crisis compared to other operators and therefore will continue its fleet expansion by another two jets before end of this year," says Axtmann.

FAI plans to add two jets a year to its fleet for the forseeable future. It recently became a member of the Marfin Investment Group (MIG), one of Greece's largest buy-in firms, that is taking over Greece's national carrier Olympic Airlines.