Fabrizio Poli, managing partner of Tyrus Wings in the UK, says that he has had an encouraging uptake on the operator's TryB4U Buy scheme, which was launched in recent months.

“The way the programme works is built around the fact that there are a lot of newcomers to the high net worth individual category; individuals that have turned over millions, even billions, in a short space of time,” Poli says. “One recent client had a gaming business online which he sold for around four billion dollars, and then went out and bought himself a Global 5000. That was his first aircraft, and he had never been on a private jet in his life, he just went out and bought this jet.

“With such individuals, we are giving them a TryB4U Buy interim aircraft, which is either a dry or wet lease until such time as their aircraft is finished. If they have arranged for an ACJ, they can take out a G550 for about eight months while the cabin conversion takes place. We have other clients who are not quite sure which jet to buy, so we can arrange a lease for these clients, perhaps a Global Express, with the hope that they will like it enough to make a move to buy it.”

The principle of the scheme is to offer buyers an identical experience to owning a jet outright; the aircraft is on the tarmac and available 24/7, and they are able to fit it in with their individual schedules. Concludes Poli: “During the course of the TryB4U Buy lease they can check whether that specific aircraft is for sale, or they will ask us to find them one. It's a way for us to get into the market and to sell an aircraft over a given period of time, and also educate the client.”