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Business Air News Bulletin
Business Air News Bulletin
The monthly news publication for aviation professionals.
The monthly news publication for aviation professionals.

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Two-month 605 delivery demand fails to faze Xclusive
Xclusive Jet Charter reports signs of recovery in the business jet market. A Citation 550 that was mothballed in May 2011 has now been put back into operation, and has entered charter service alongside a Hawker 800XP from Southampton airport.

Xclusive Jet Charter reports signs of recovery in the business jet market. A Citation 550 that was mothballed in May 2011 has now been put back into operation, and has entered charter service alongside a Hawker 800XP from Southampton airport.

The Citation had needed a new engine and, with the reduction in the charter market, the owners considered it not worth the financial outlay. This gave XJC time to wait for the right engine deal to come along, which it did in November last year.

The company says it is used to acting for customers with very specific timescale requirements. One of its clients wanted to upgrade an existing Challenger 605 to a new model, with delivery required in just two months’ time.

Steve Loveridge, md, reports that he received an email that read: “Please check this is all OK.” In the attachment was the proposal for the upgrade. “It came completely out of the blue,” he says. “Two months’ notice is a tough task but after intense negotiations and much pressure on the manufacturer we finally got the deal that the client wanted and the aircraft was delivered on schedule.”

Loveridge continues: “We are lucky in that we have an excellent aircraft delivery team and we immediately put resources in place to get the show on the road. This was an aircraft destined for another client so the difficulty was going through the customer options that were specified to ensure compatibility with our operations.”

XJC recently moved into new offices in the Signature facility at Southampton and operates eight aircraft providing bespoke management and charter services.

“We celebrated 10 years in the business and have seen some pretty tough times. However, we have seen an increase in business over the last few months and are quite upbeat about the future. We are a small company by comparison and this is a model that we want to keep, as it is the only way that our clients can get a truthful, personal service,” he adds.

The company has taken CAMO in-house with the appointment of Mike Phillips, formally of TAG Farnborough. Loveridge explains: “Mike brings us much needed expertise in the aircraft maintenance side of our business and we are rapidly becoming a one-stop shop.”