Pen-avia, a Luton-based charter operator which recently acquired its AOC, is hoping to get a flying start in the European charter market with its Citation X.

Chief pilot Pat Roofe – formerly of Gold Air – told EBAN about the planned development of the company and its operations. “It’s a new AOC that we are going to expand slowly,” he said. “It’s mainly contained within European airspace, as well as Russia and Africa, to which we will eventually expand to North America.

“I was approached by the owners of the Citation X to set up the AOC. It operates for two private families, who wanted the aircraft put on a certificate with a certain level of activity.”

Although the AOC does not yet cover the US, there is, according to Roofe, a private requirement for

trips across the Atlantic and the aircraft has already completed several transatlantic flights.

The Citation X, which was acquired in June 2002, was selected for its size, speed and range. “The aircraft’s speed and operating height, which takes it above lots of the weather problems, were particularly attractive, and the Rolls Royce engines played a significant part in the choice.”

According to Pen-avia, the aircraft is the first of its type on the British register, which it hopes will enable it to corner a section of the UK market that is insufficiently catered for.

There are curently 11 Citation Xs registered in Europe, four of which

are in Germany.

Said ground ops manager Eduardo Abreu-Counsell: “There’s a bit of a gap in the market as it’s an aircraft that sits between something like a Hawker and a Challenger, and there’s no other aircraft like that in the UK.”

Along with Pen-avia’s two other pilots, Roofe underwent a three week training course at FlightSafety in Wichita. “We’re now in the final stages of getting our own TRE (type-

rated examiner) certification, which offers the in-house capability of

doing the six-month check without having to go back to the US. At this time, we are contracted for full service training with FlightSafety, which

is twice per year.”

The aircraft is configured with two ‘very generous’ club-fours, each with individual DVD players and screens. The company is aiming to fly about 200 hours for the first year and plans to acquire a second Citation X, which will act as a support aircraft, in the near future, depending on the level of demand for the first aircraft. Pen-avia also operates a privately-owned, N-registered Hawker 800XP, which is not available for charter.