Acropolis Aviation ceo David Crawshaw says the company's new ACJ will meet its target of flying 600 hours in its first year of operation but there are no current plans to add a second to the London Farnborough based company's fleet. "I am a great believer in 'small is beautiful' where the size of the company is concerned," he says. "It is far easier to manage a small-scale company in a way that ensures it focuses on the customer and consistently provides a bespoke service of top-level security and comfort. The provision of such high quality personal service gets more difficult as a company increases in size so we plan to stick with one ACJ for now."

Acropolis Aviation conducted a lengthy investigation before acquiring the ACJ and started by itemising what the company's clients wanted. Crawshaw says: "The project has taken more than three years to bring to fruition. We sought range, cost-effectiveness, comfort and space and we also had to be extremely confident with the maintenance and support."

The ACJ, configured with 19 seats, gained its AOC in April and Crawshaw says the response from the top end of the market has more than lived up to expectations. "This aircraft will fly 600 hours this year with destinations ranging from North and South America, Europe and the Middle and Far East. This is our initial 'flying hour target' and it will be reviewed after year one.

"We are absolutely delighted with the client response and the support from Airbus but we want to make this project a commercial success before we consider anything else." Crawshaw adds: "The ACJ has a beautiful cabin outfitted by the Airbus Corporate Jet Centre. It features lounges, a bedroom and a bathroom with en suite shower. The wide cabin is a big advantage but the ACJ also offers many features including Category 3B autoland that enables landings even in poor visibility, time and cost-saving centralised maintenance, and a rich specification of navigational aids."

Crawshaw, who has been working in business aviation since 1973, says that Farnborough's advantages as a purpose-built business aviation airport means it is a base exactly suited to the requirements of Acropolis Aviation's clients. "We are not involved in any negotiations for slots and the TAG ground facilities and handling are first class." Associated company Triair is based at Farnborough operating the Falcon 7X and the Challenger 300 which provide clients with other long range options.

Benoit Defforge, ceo, and Bruno Galzin, head of sales and marketing, Airbus Corporate Jet Centre, say that computer aided design is critically important in the fast and efficient processing of green aircraft to client requirements. "The full CAD mock-up shows exactly what the aircraft will look like and enables the client to take early decisions," Galzin explains. "Acropolis Aviation made full use of CAD to help ensure the best for their clients in good time down to details such as the optimum positioning for foldaway flight crew seats on take-off and landing."