For all those budding air taxi operators

"A recession is when you have to tighten your belt; depression is when you have no belt to tighten. When you have lost your trousers - you're in the airline business"

Sir Adam Thompson, Founder, Chairman, British Caledonian - industry quote

General comments from delegates

Dr Bruce Holmes was exceptional - a vision of the future - terrific!

A real insight into the how the operators - US and Europe - set up. My only complaint is I didn't win the champagne

A couple of the speakers wandered off the topic but for the mostpart clear, concise presentations and a well presented event

Apart from a few glitches with the sound I thought this was an excellent show. Thoughful presentations and a good facility. Well done

Good mix. Here and there a few overlapping topics but other than that, an overall good convention

I would have liked some more on the regional airports but then again I'm biased - I come from a regional airport. Really interesting to meet so many operators in one room

Good operator interaction, great facility

Next time, I suggest fewer speakers, good event though

You did well to get so many industry gurus there. Great idea to have a dedicated air taxi event

Various comments from the evaluation forms passed back to MIU at the end of IATC 2008

VLJs less polluting than conventional aircraft

VLJ operations in the troposphere produce relatively reduced effects from NOx, water vapour and contrail-induced cloud formation, than result from stratospheric flight operations.

Bruce Holmes, Chief Strategist, NextGen Systems, DayJet - IATC 2008

Customer confirmation

When we talk about offering air taxi service to customers, we are usually focusing on the flight and not much else. However, in true "Point-to-Point" travel, we need to consider the experience in the plane as well as how the customer gets to and from the airport.

Steven Fisher, Slipstream - IATC 2008

Business aircraft increase efficiency

EBAA sponsored study in mid 1990s by London Business School showed that companies with business aircraft performed 11% better than average. Similar US studies of almost 800 companies showed that those using business aircraft performed more than 8% above average

Eric Mandemaker, CEO, European Business Aviation Association - IATC 2008

Its the customer stupid!

Technology and Operations are important ................. Customer centricity is key.

Arie-Willem Van Doorne, Chief Operating Officer, Bikkair - IATC 2008

US Domestic set up

The airlines do not provide service to 75% of US domestic markets due to aircraft economics which requires market size > 25 passengers per day each way. Current trend - airlines and regionals are moving toward larger aircraft to reduce costs, resulting in less frequent schedules. Regionals are feeding the mainline carriers, resulting in fewer non-stop flights.

Dean Rotchin, CEO, Earthjet - IATC 2008

Reduce noise pollution

The Eclipse 500 is the quietest jet in history, and is even quieter than most single engine piston aircraft.

Mike McConnell, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Eclipse Aviation - IACT 2008

European Business Aviation

Business aviation rarely flies the same route twice. Nearly all business airport pairs are flown less than once a week. For scheduled traffic there are as many airport pairs flown ten times/week as once/week

Dr Matthijs de Haan, Managing Director, ETIRC Aviation - IATC 2008

Private Aviation Market Growth

2009-2015: VLJ forecast increase 200 to 1000 flights per day (Eurocontrol): - GA is fastest expanding air transport sector apart from low-cost scheduled airlines (Eurocontrol & EBAA): - 2007 - Business Aviation in Europe expanded by 10% in 2007 compared to average growth of 5.3% across all sectors (Eurocontrol): - 2007 - business aircraft 7.5% of all European air traffic movements in 2007 - 6.9% in 2006 (EBAA)

Stefan Vilner, CEO, JetBird - IATC2008

Air Taxis

I'd categorise air taxis as Business Jets down, Business class up.

Peter Leiman, Managing Director, Blink - IATC 2008

Potential for VLJ market share

The air travel market is worth $135 Billion. Potentially, $30 Billion's worth of travellers could be serviced by the VLJ/Air Taxis.

Andrew Locke, Director of Business Operations & Strategy, Linear Air - IATC 2008

Propensity for air travel

Latin American economies are in a region where small increases in GDP translate into a much higher increase in passengers flying

Respicio A Espirito Santo Jr, President, Brazilian Institute of Strategic Studies and Public Policies in Air Transport - Rio de Janiero, VLJ-LAC 2007

Brazilian Aviation Taxes

Airlines pay zero in taxes when buying aircraft, depending on the structure of the operation. A private individual acquiring a glider will pay up to 41.6% in taxes. The continuity of the present tax structure may create sizeable barriers to the development of the VLJ market.

Adalberto Febeliano, Eexecutive Vice President, ABAG (Brazilian Association of General Aviation) - VLJ-LAC 2007

Middle East Market

More than 1500 commercial aircraft in service or on order with around 160 operators in a wide variety of roles. 2006 profits of $630 million on revenues of $20.6 billion which themselves were up 22% over 2005

Andy Whelan, BAE Systems Regional Aircraft - FAME 2007

Encourage travellers into the air

Part of our strategy is to encourage switch from surface transport to air. Despite the vast distances involved most domestic leisure travel is by car/bus

Andrew Cowen, CEO, Sama - FAME 2007

Commercial Aviation in a nutshell

2 OEMs serve 100% of the market, 2 leasing companies serve 45% of the market, 1500 airlines compete globally, 600 MROs compete across the board, 2 Catering companies serve 40% of the market

Suheil Mahayni, General Manager Gulf, Lufthansa Technik AG - FAME 2007

Bankrupt fleets

Close to 100% of all aircraft that were flying for the 20 some airlines that have gone bankrupt since 2001 (Swissair, Sabena, Ansett) continue to fly today and their new operators are paying to fly them

Christian McCormick, Natixis Transport Finance - FAME 2007

Delivering the VLJ

Half the challenge is designing an airplane, but the other half is building a line that can manufacture them at a consistent quality level.

Ed Iacobucci, President/CEO, DayJet - industry quote

Short haul business

In short haul there is no positive perception of value for money. The attributes that the potential user is looking for belong to the air taxi profile, but it's considered too expensive.

Javier Diez Cardona, CEO, Wondair, Vienna, VLJ-Europe 2007 

Size matters!

We've done a survey of our pilots on the VLJ - detailing the technology, the sophisticated avionics and the fact that it's just about the most pleasing aircraft you can possibly fly. What response do we get back - is it bigger than the aircraft I fly now!

Patrick JG Margetson-Rushmore, CEO, LEA (London Executive Aviation), Vienna, VLJ - Europe, 2007

Air Taxis and the VLJ

The Air Taxi Association (ATXA) is leading the revolution in personal air travel at business airline prices. Backed by leading air taxi companies, the Air Taxi Association’s mission is to speed the adoption of the air taxi model so that more businesses, individuals, and communities of all sizes can enjoy the benefits of direct, on-demand flights.

Joe Leader, President, Air Taxi Association, Vienna, VLJ-Europe 2007 

Opportunities for the VLJ sector

Air transport Industry expanding at a rate of 2.4 times GDP

European air travel market will continue to grow with EU enlargement

Business travel offers poor value for money

47% of business travellers travel more, year on year

Dr Ali Baghdadi, President and CEO, GoNow, Vienna, VLJ-Europe 2007

Exchanges from the floor at VLJ Dubai

"It's not so much a question of whether the VLJ is ready for Dubai, as whether Dubai is ready for the VLJ"

Tahir Khan, Eastern Skyjets

"We expect to be delivering 1,000 aircraft per annum"

Matt Brown, Eclipse Aviation

"I think that's optimistic"

George Galanopoulos, London Executive Aviation

"It's the owner/pilot graduating to a VLJ, we're worried about"

Lou Sorrentino, SH&E

"It's a bit like having a Ferrari in Dubai, great car, great performance, but not much use if you're stuck in traffic. It's the same with the VLJ - Great idea but if you're stuck in the bottleneck/security at Dubai airport there's no real advantage"

Falcon Aviation

"I don't like to train ex-military pilots in type conversion - they all, mentally, think they've got an ejector seat"

Stefano Sturlese, Spectrum Aviation

"That's not true"

Ex-Military pilot, Capt Mustafa Aksu

VLJ forecasts

More than 7.7 million trips would be made using air taxi services in 2017
·Based on the FAA forecast, users of VLJ-based air taxi services will save over 35 million hours of travel time, valued at over $1.8 billion.
Matt Brown, Director - Product Marketing, Eclipse Aviation - Speaking at VLJ's Dubai, 23/24 April, 2007

Affordable air taxis

The way forward for the mass market, but particularly the business traveller, is the provision of affordable and conveniently located air taxis.

George Galanopoulos, Managing Director, London Executive Aviation, speaking at VLJ's Dubai, 23/24 April, 2007

The air charter sector

....Europe has a thriving and competitive charter industry, based around light and medium sized aircraft. There are approximately 600 aircraft in Europe available for charter and annual revenues are in the region of US$1.4 billion (Euros 1 billion). Like the US this is made up of similar sectors equating to air-taxi, air charter and joint ownership....South America, in particularl, Brazil is also a significant market for both air-taxi and air charter flights.

The VLJ market, 2007 -2016, Philip Butterworth-Hayes, PMI Media ltd.

Contact MIU Events or the author directly for access to the full study 

Lose money in style!

"The air taxi business, like the charter and airline business, is fundamentally a wealth-destroying business. VLJ's simply will make it more fun and exciting to lose money. And let's not forget about the bragging rights." Vaughn Cordle, CFA, CEO and chief analyst, Airline Forecasts, LLC