Aoife O’Sullivan, Partner, The Air Law Firm

How long have you been at your current organization?

We set up the firm in November 2015 as a boutique aviation law firm mainly to focus only on aviation and be more flexible in terms of client needs such as fixed fees. Clients we had been working with for many years agreed to support us and we haven’t looked back since.

What are your responsibilities within your organization?

Pretty much everything! I run the business with my partners and we do everything from ordering the stationary to advising clients on aircraft ownership, finance and trading structures. I guess my main role is to keep the business coming in and make sure we are doing everything we can to help clients and give a fast and professional service.

Describe a typical day or week in your role.

There is absolutely nothing typical about this role or the work we do. I split my time working from home or at the office in Mayfair. There seems to have been a swing back to face to face meetings so the work involves a lot of travel, literally to anywhere I am directed to go! Many of our clients are based in or pass through London and our Mayfair office is very central so I tend to walk to meetings where possible. Our client base is very varied and on any given day, I may spend the morning with a HNWI advising on their aircraft purchase, lunch with a financier to agree a financing structure, the afternoon drafting documents and answering emails and then dinner with some industry friends or new clients. The ability to respond to emails and calls on the go is a necessity in this line of work as people tend to expect a quick turnaround. We are lucky to be very busy so delegation is a skill I have had to become very good at without affecting our partner led personal service to the clients.

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Product Overview

The Challenger 600 is a twin turbofan large-cabin wide-body business jet best recognized for its very wide cabin (only Falcon 900 is wider; by 1 inch). It was one of the first business jets designed with a supercritical wing. The Challenger 600 has four backup power systems, thrust reversers and APU. It is known to be a spacious, comfortable cabin with low noise and vibration levels.

As of April 2017, 100% of the Challenger 600 aircraft were purchased pre-owned by their current owners. Currently, 24.6% are for sale with a fraction of those (25%) under an exclusive broker agreement. When for sale, the average time on the market is 679 days

Brief History

The Challenger 600 was originally developed in the mid-1970s to be the Learstar 600 in collaboration between Canadair and Bill Lear of Learjet. In 1976 Canadair purchased the Learstar rights and redesigned it to be the Challenger. It was then certified in 1980. A total of 85 Challenger 600 aircraft have been manufactured with 65 in operation today.

Worldwide Appeal

There are 65 Challenger 600 aircraft in operation today. 64 of these are wholly owned with 1 in shared ownership. 1 of the 65 is currently leased. North America has the largest percentage of Challenger 600 aircraft (75%), followed by Asia (14%).

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This is an exciting time for business aviation in Europe, as echoed this month at EBACE 2017. Europe has quality aircraft priced correctly and good market conditions that are attracting the western buyer—great news for the European seller. Last year, the best fiscal year in our company’s 55-year history, Europe accounted for approximately 20% of our annual transactions.

The recent election of a new president in France is beginning to chip away at some of the uncertainty surrounding the European business aviation sector’s longevity. In addition, the recent German, French and United Kingdom high stock markets results are also paving the way for transactions. These conditions, along with the euro increasing while the U.S. dollar continues to fall, has flushed Europe with motivated sellers. What this means is Europe has plenty of sellers with aircraft that are attractive to buyers in the region and in North America, and sellers that can benefit from the current currency situation....

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Product Overview

The Legacy 650 is an upgraded Legacy 600, which was initially based on the platform of regional commercial airliner passenger jet ERJ-145. Embraer improved upon the Legacy 600 by adding extra power and range, and enhanced avionics. An enhanced version of the Legacy 650 (Legacy 650E) was announced at the 2016 NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE) and is scheduled for introduction in 2017. It will include a synthetic vision system, auto throttle, and a restyled three-zone interior.

As of February 2017, 16% of the Legacy 650 aircraft were purchased pre-owned by their current owners, the other 84% new. Currently, 16.1% are for sale with the majority of those (67%) under an exclusive broker agreement. When for sale, the average time on the market is 294 days.

Brief History

Announced at NBAA-BACE in 2009 and certified in 2011, the Legacy 650 is a longer-range version of the Legacy 600. A total of 96 Legacy 650 aircraft have been manufactured with 93 in operation and three with the manufacturer.

Worldwide Appeal

There are 93 Legacy 650 aircraft in operation today. All of these are wholly owned with 0 in shared or fractional ownership. 3 of the 93 are currently leased. Asia has the largest percentage of Legacy 650 aircraft (46%), followed by Europe (29%) and North America (13%).

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Yvonne Kwok, Accounting/Administrative Officer, Jetcraft Asia
Location: Hong Kong

How long have you been at Jetcraft?

I have been working in the Jetcraft Asia office for one year and two months.

What are your responsibilities within the global Jetcraft team?

I am the Accounting/Administrative Officer for the Jetcraft Asia office. My responsibilities within Jetcraft are to provide accounting and administration support to the Asia team. I also assist with coordinating travel plans for anyone on the asia sales team.

Describe a typical day or week in your role.

I spend my typical day preparing accounting reports, payroll, and tax filing to Inland Revenue Department. I work closely with the accounting team in our Headquarters in Raleigh, NC, USA. I also assist with the air-tickets and hotel arrangements for the members of the Asia team since they travel often.

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by Dan Kilkeary, former Jetcraft Senior Vice President of Sales - Americas

Private aviation, especially in today’s chaotic and often stressful travel environment, offers many benefits for both leisure and business travelers. But how do you decide when to invest in chartering, or whether you should purchase a private aircraft? Here are some parameters to keep in mind when weighing the options of chartering versus buying.

Advantages of Chartering an Aircraft

If you only fly private a few times a year, then chartering can be a more economic choice. With numerous charter options available today, you can choose exactly the type of plane that fits your travel needs for each specific trip. Keep in mind these three benefits to chartering an aircraft:

Flexibility—a charter affords you the ability to decide when, where and how to fly. In the end, chartering is ideal when flight usage is sporadic and needs are difficult to predict.

Variety—chartering offers the option to ch...

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Aaron Kreissler, Director of MRO Sales, Jet Aviation

How long have you been at your current organization?

I have been at Jet Aviation for 26 years.

What are your responsibilities within your organization?

I am responsible for MRO and Completion Sales, Marketing and Customer Care for Jet Aviation in St Louis, which includes a few different groups of people. We have a regional sales force working in the field that is the primary face of Jet Aviation to our customers. The Internal MRO Sales team is made up of highly technical individuals who produce our proposals and advise customers. These are the folks that answer the questions when a customer or industry partner is evaluating modifications to prospective aircraft, and they are also constantly educating me. The Completion Sales team handles project management for all completions and is the customer’s single point of contact throughout the process. Marketing has both a tactical and strategic role. Finally, our Customer Care team ensures that every customer who comes to St Louis feels like they are a member of the Jet Aviation family.

What do you love most about your job? What is a typical day like?

Every week, even every day, is a relay race. We’ll have a different person starting off and even a different anchor, but without the full team we would not win.

I love that no day is a baseline day. We have friends all over the globe, reaching out to us no matter what the hour, sometimes with projects we could not have dreamed up. I love when we work together to come up with an amazingly effective and unique solution.

Why did working in the Business Aviation industry interest you, and how did you get started?

I grew up in a small town and business jets were for the extremely elite, but I did not know much about them. Everything though was a Lear: a Gulfstream, a Challenger, a Jetstar; I thought they were all Learjets. When I began working with Sabreliner I started to learn about other business aircraft, but it was the career move to Midcoast where my eyes were opened to the breadth and benefits of business aviation.

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Product Overview

The Challenger 850 is derived from the Bombardier CRJ200 commercial airliner. It can accommodate up to 50 standard class seats as a corporate shuttle, but is often configured to accommodate 14-16 passengers with an executive configuration.

As of February 2017, 43% of the Challenger 850 aircraft were purchased pre-owned by their current owners, the other 57% new. Currently, 8.7% are for sale with the majority of those (67%) under an exclusive broker agreement. When for sale, the average time on the market is 744 days.

Brief History

The Challenger 850 was first manufactured in 1996 as the Challenger SE (Special Edition) and rebranded in 2006 as the Challenger 850. Production ended in 2012 following completion of 71 deliveries.

Worldwide Appeal

There are 69 Challenger 850 aircraft in operation today. All of these are wholly owned with none in shared or fractional ownership. 11.9% of the Challenger 850 aircraft are currently leased. Europe and Asia have the largest percentage (39% each), followed by North America (19%).

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The Asia-Pacific market continues to show signs of business aviation growth, and we are tracking promising activity throughout the region. Jetcraft’s 10 Year Market Forecast predicts Asia-Pacific will remain one of the most active of the emerging markets (and the third-largest business aviation market behind North America and Europe), accounting for 10% of unit deliveries from 2016-2025 (789 units). As we closed 2016, the best year in our company’s 55-year history, Asia-Pacific accounted for approximately 20% of our results, on par with Europe.

One of the key drivers for Asia-Pacific’s business aviation sales activity, from our perspective, is a greater acceptance of pre-owned aircraft among buyers as well as an increase in the number of first-time sellers in the market. It remains a region where buyers are inclined to purchase new aircraft, but there is a significant shift in attitude, where buyers are acquiring pre-owned aircraft in greater numbers and with growing confidenc...

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