APRIL IS THE BUSIEST MONTH (FOR BUSINESS AVIATION)
Anyone expecting a quiet start to 2022 has been disappointed. Aircraft sales have continued to close, charter requests have flown in – April was the busiest business aviation month on record. This is all despite lockdowns in Asia and war in Ukraine.
We have already seen lots of acquisitions this year. The two biggest deals have both been by Vista Group: Air Hamburg and US operator Jet Edge International.
Thomas Flohr, founder of Vista Group, explains his near-term strategy for his company in this issue. He is not looking to go public, but wants to buy other operators and believes the market has fundamentally changed. Our story also goes deeper, looking at what drives him personally and why he does not want to be part of the business aviation establishment.
The other long read in the issue looks at connectivity. Covid accelerated everyone’s adoption of things like Zoom and virtual events faster than any chief technology officer could have dreamt. Our survey in association with Inmarsat Aviation shows that people are still optimistic about the next 12 months.
This optimism for the industry was evident at CJI London and the National Aircraft Finance Association’s 50th Anniversary Conference in Napa. There is no doubt that people are excited to be back and we are really looking forward to seeing people at EBACE in Geneva and CJI Asia in Singapore.
It will be interesting to see how long this optimism lasts. There are definite storm clouds of inflation, falling consumer confidence and recessions on the horizon. But, the industry has been through tough times before and Flohr is betting that people will fight to stay flying private.
LOUISA WHYTE, Publisher
Contents
EVERY ISSUE
Day in the life: Mark Elliott, yacht broker – “The harder I work, the luckier I am.” Except for his breakfast coffee, every day is different for this Florida broker.
AIRCRAFT
Picture this: A Dassault in the desert – we capture the OEM’s Falcon 8X sweeping through Star Wars Canyon, California in these stunning shots from the Mojave Desert.
Picture this: 8,000 Cessna Citation deliveries – and counting. Textron’s Lannie O’Bannion tells us about the Citation’s long and illustrious history and its bright future.
Jet Data: Your handy buyers’ guide to all the key performance metrics of leading makes of business jets.
COVER STORY
The vision for VistaJet: Thomas Flohr, founder and CEO, explains why his company and the business jet industry in general, have recently passed a tipping point. Plus, why VistaJet will stay in private hands. (Just don’t call him part of the jet industry establishment).
UP FRONT
Leo Knaapen: “Serve, lead and represent” – these are the three watchwords Knaapen gleaned during more than 30 years at Bombardier, latterly as its chief – Industry Affairs. Here leading industry figures say thank you and au revoir.
FEATURES
Technicians: Targetting the talent pool – why it is time to get creative in finding solutions to boosting the supply of mechanics (and keeping them employed in business aviation).
Jetcraft: Celebrating its 60th birthday – Jetcraft prides itself on being “a big little company”. We hear why from Chad Anderson, CEO, Jahid Fazal-Karim, owner and chairman of the Board, and Charles ‘Bucky’ Oliver, founder and chairman emeritus, who also all look ahead 10 years.
In-flight connectivity: In six key questions – we have teamed up with Inmarsat to chart industry views revealed in answers to six questions to our exclusive survey. We also profile 12 leading connectivity providers.
EVENTS
Report: CJI London 2022 – “From rich boy toy to separate asset class”. Ford von Weise, Private Citi Bank, told our 500 conference delegates that the pandemic had truly helped business aviation to come of age.
Your quarterly connection to business aviation
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Our next events
Corporate Jet Investor Asia 2022
June 29th & 30th
Raffles City Convention Centre, Singapore
Revolution.Aero 2022
September 12th & 13th
InterContinental Mark Hopkins, San Francisco
Corporate Jet Investor Miami 2022
October 30th to November 2nd
Fontainebleau, Miami Beach
Corporate Jet Investor London 2023
February 6th, 7th & 8th
The Landmark London
Please email Rianne@corporatejetinvestor.com to register or if you would like more information.
