Private jet company VistaJet has commenced operations in Nigeria, offering alternatives to owning a private jet after operating for over 14 years.
This was disclosed by VistaJet president of Europe and Africa, Philippe Scalabrini, while briefing newsmen in Abuja during a static tour of Bombardier Challenger 605 aircraft at the Nnamdi Azikiwe.
He said all that is needed is for the individual or company executives to register and be a client of VistaJet and book a minimum of 50 to 100 flight hours.
On the difference between the service and charter service, Scalabrini said: ” If a client is looking to charter an aircraft for example, the problem is that it is not consistent. You are not sure of what you are going to have. The aircraft is only available if the owner is not using it or the owner is not ready to let it go. It creates this problem when you want to go somewhere and you are not able to because the aircraft is not available. We give clients something close to aircraft ownership without the headaches that comes with owning an aircraft.”
He further said: ” We are providing flight services for our clients. We have had the ability to get assets for clients. Instead of buying assets that become very complicated that have a lot of restrictions and a lot of regulations, we simply offer flight services based on purchasing block hours.
” Our clients are not faced with maintenance issues or dealing with depreciation of the assets. People can buy a block of 50 hours and we can tailor our solutions for them. We simplify and make access to private aviation services as transparent as possible”.
Speaking on how long VistaJet has been in the aviation industry, he said, “We have been in the industry for 14 years. So we have a lot of experience in every city and every country. We have flown to 96 per cent of the world’s countries. We know how to operate anywhere. The difference today is that when we are doing a one hour flight from Nigeria to Ghana for instance, if we didn’t have an airplane here, we would have to position an aircraft from Europe and Dubai. So, now by developing our infrastructure here with having more airplanes that are dedicated to the region, we can operate seamlessly within the West African region.”
While speaking on the capacity of VistaJet to offer aviation businesses,
Scalabrini said: “We are a global leader in private aviation. We have over 300 airplanes all over the world. We have been operating in West Africa for over 14 years. We have experience flying from all over the world including Africa and West Africa.
“So, what we are introducing here today is what we started about three years ago. We are introducing a fleet of Challenger 605 from Bombardier. This is dedicated to the region here. It is very exciting for us because over the years we have seen the potential.”
