We want to thank all of our customers and partners for your continued support in 2019. From all of us at Jetcraft, Happy Holidays and all the best for 2020.
We spoke to several of our senior leadership team members who provided tips for flying private. Here’s what they had to say.
Share one piece of advice for a first-time private jet flyer
It is a special experience and not everybody gets to fly private, so just take it all in and enjoy the experience.
– Chris Brenner – Senior VP of Sales, Americas
Don’t plan anything, just grab a plane and decide at the last minute where you want to go, that’s the beauty of private jets.
– Jahid Fazal-Karim – Owner and Chairman of the Board
My advice when flying privately for the first time is to be courteous to everyone that is assisting you. Everybody has a function and in order to make private air travel happen it takes a lot of people in a lot of different disciplines. So you always have to remember to be courteous to those people and treat them well.
– Peter Antonenko – Chief Operating Officer
Product Overview
The Gulfstream G500 came about as a replacement to the Gulfstream G450, flying faster, further, and carrying more passengers and baggage than its predecessor. According to Gulfstream, the G500 has a top speed of 0.925 Mach or the speed of sound. It is equipped with a ventilation system that can replace the air in the cabin with fresh air in just 2 minutes and also has active side-stick control technology.
As of September 2019, 1 of the Gulfstream G500 aircraft were purchased pre-owned by their current owner, the other 22 new. One G500 aircraft is currently for sale and is under an exclusive broker agreement. Jetcraft brokered the world’s first transaction of a pre-owned Gulfstream G500 aircraft.
Brief History
The GIV and G450 were produced by Gulfstream to offer greater safety, technology, and performance. The Gulfstream G500 has now replaced those models with even more improvements to these key factors. The Gulfstream G500 first flight was in May 2015 with service entry in September 2018. A total of 60 Gulfstream G500 business jets have been built, these serial numbers begin with a 7.
Before the G500 model, was the G-500 model. The G-500 was built from 2006 to 2008 but production ended due to poor sales. Only 9 units were produced, all of these are still in operation and their serial numbers start with a 5. Gulfstream made this model less expensive than the G-550 by reducing the Basic Operating Weight (BOW) by 400 pounds. The G-500 is powered by two Rolls Royce BMW/RR BR-700-C4-11 engines.
Worldwide Appeal
There are 23 Gulfstream G500 business jets in operation today and all are wholly owned. 13% are currently leased. North America has the largest percentage of Gulfstream G500 aircraft (74%), followed by Asia (17%).
Tobias Kleff, former Jetcraft Sales Director
Location: Las Vegas, NV, US
How long have you been at Jetcraft?
I have been with the company since mid July 2019.
What are your responsibilities within the global Jetcraft team?
I am responsible for the Pacific Northwest U.S. (Northern CA, OR, WA, MT, ID, WY, AK) and British Columbia, focusing on Sales, Acquisitions, and Consulting with customers in that region.
Describe a typical day or week in your role.
My day starts by checking my phone for emails and calls that came in overnight.
After the morning rush I usually find some time to have breakfast around 9:30 and go over my schedule for the day.
Within a typical week I try to balance my time amongst emails, phone calls and in person meetings. Traveling and meeting with prospects, existing clients and industry colleagues is another important part of my typical day to day. Also, daily updates with my Sales Engineer and counterpart Sales Directors throughout our 20+ offices worldwide help me stay well informed.
Jetcraft Asia has been named as the Best Aircraft Sales Broker for the 5th year running by the Asian Business Aviation Association (AsBAA). The awards, which are voted on by industry peers, were presented at the Icons of Aviation charity gala on the 2nd November.
David Dixon, President of Jetcraft Asia, says: “It’s humbling to receive this award for the fifth time, and I’m incredibly proud of our team in Asia, whose hard work will ensure we can deliver the same level of service for the next five years. I must also thank the rest of the Jetcraft team worldwide for their support as well.”
Product Overview
The Falcon 2000LXS was designed as a replacement for its predecessor, the Falcon 2000LX. One of the biggest differentiating features of the 2000LXS is the model’s improved short field capability. The reduced landing distance allows for more access to airports for takeoff and landings compared to other aircraft in its class.
As of September 2019, 17% of Falcon 2000LXS aircraft were purchased pre-owned by their current owner, the other 83% new. 7.9% are for sale with the majority of those (71%) under an exclusive broker agreement. When for sale the average time on the market is 129 days.
Brief History
The Falcon 2000 model initially launched in 1994 with a few variants following. In 2009 the 2000LX model was released as a longer range variant with a range capability of 4,000 nautical miles. The Falcon 2000LXS debuted in 2014 bringing the rare combined ability to travel long-range distances and also to land on short and challenging runways. A total of 96 Falcon 2000LXS aircraft have been produced to date with 89 currently in operation.
Worldwide Appeal
There are 89 Falcon 2000LXS business jets in operation today and all are wholly owned. 19% are currently leased. North America has the largest percentage of wholly owned Falcon 2000LXS aircraft (66%), followed by Europe (26%).
Jetcraft, the global leader in business jet sales and acquisitions, is announcing the addition of two new team members in North America, coinciding with its completion of the world’s first transaction of a pre-owned Gulfstream G500 aircraft.
The sale comes at a time of substantial growth in resources for the company worldwide, with a 25% expansion of the team over the past two years.
Chad Anderson, president at Jetcraft, says: “Jetcraft’s growth puts us in a strong position to facilitate pioneering transactions in the long-range aircraft market, which, with an influx of new models, is entering a dynamic period – as evidenced by our recent milestone transaction.
“The definition of ‘pre-owned’ is changing – it no longer means ‘old’ in private jet sales. With innovation among manufacturers focused heavily on large-cabin aircraft, some buyers are choosing to sell after just one or two years of ownership, to upgrade to an even newer model. For example, the G500 ...
Chris Hughes, Relationship Director Aviation, Lombard part of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc
How long have you been at your current organization?
I have been with Lombard since March 2010 having previously worked in the Structured Asset Finance team at BNP Paribas Fortis in the UK, and before that at HSBC bank plc. I initially joined Lombard to work in the Corporate Asset Finance team but when an opportunity came up six years ago to get back into Aviation I jumped at the chance. The past six years have flown by …pardon the pun.
What are your responsibilities within your organization?
As a Director within our Aviation finance team I am involved to a degree in all aspects of the client life cycle. My primary role is deal origination, negotiation and execution but I also get involved in credit management, and assessing policy and risk appetite for the aviation business in general. A key component of the role is relationship management of both our internal and external stakeholders as well as our growing customer base.
Describe a typical day or week in your role.
I like to start the day with an early Crossfit fix, an early workout always sets me up for the day ahead. First thing I do when I get into the office is to check my emails and action anything that may have come in overnight. From there it’s a real mix of client meetings, internal stakeholder sessions, client calls and external stakeholder meetings together with taking time to catch up with the team on workloads and pipeline. My wife would say that my working week will always include one lunch meeting in London too…..
As summer draws to a close and with Q4 on the horizon, it’s the perfect opportunity to reflect and celebrate our recent achievements as we look ahead to what the rest of 2019 has in store.
Jetcraft has been experiencing a period of accelerated growth and, in the past two years, we have expanded our team by more than 25%.
We announced the opening of our London headquarters in early 2018 and doubled our employees in Europe; crucial for serving the world’s second-largest business aviation market. It’s good news for our customers too, who use London as both a cultural and financial hub.