European Update - Blink and Jetbird

It has been a while since I have discussed the status of European operators, but an article in Time magazine recently highlighted the efforts of both Blink and Jetbird. The article entitled "Private Jets: Air Pressure" discussed again the projections about the number of vljs operating in Europe in the future and how that might impact airspace traffic and congestion - especially at the higher altitudes where fuel efficiency is the greatest.

Blink, which will be flying the Cessna Citation Mustang, and Jetbird, which has chosen the Phenom 100, are both discussed in the article. Based in Dublin, Jetbird's website is still calling for a 2009 launch while Blink -- claiming to be Europe's "first air taxi service" -- with its headquarters in London has indicated it will begin operations this month. The article also discusses a concern of Eurocontrol with the potential adverse impact of vljs (that I discussed here a few months ago):

It notes that "[i]n October, Eurocontrol will conduct a simulation in Budapest that will flood air-traffic control with hundreds of microjets. If the test suggests that the safety of larger planes could be compromised, Eurocontrol may push regulators to mandate dedicated flight paths and better collision-avoidance gear."

My sense is that ultimately the European market and customers for air taxis are somewhat different from that in the US with much greater initial attraction to leisure and vacation travel in Europe in addition to business travel. It will indeed be interesting to compare the two markets as they emerge. While there might be quite a few differences, one thing is the surley same: the common themes of improvements in quality of life and efficiency and renewed enjoyment in air travel are shared by both current US operators and prospective European operators.

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European Projections and the Great Lavatory Debate

The European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation, EUROCONTROL, with 38 member nations whose mission is to harmonize and integrate air navigation services in Europe in order to create a safe, uniform, air traffic management system, announced this week the formation of a European "VLJ Integration Platform." The Platform will study the impact VLJs and air taxis will have on the overly congested European air traffic system. More interesting predictions of the numbers of VLJs are contained in the press release announcing the formation of the Platform. The formation was predicated by a EUROCONTROL study that indicated 440 VLJs are on order for Europe with 230 projected to be delivered by 2010.

"The majority of VLJs are expected to be used for air-taxi type work." The press release also states that over 100 VLJs per year will join the European skies with aproximately 700 new VLJs by 2015, each with 2-3 flights per day. The European market will face some challenges not to be faced in the United States with more regulation and restrictions on air taxi operations. In most European countries, IFR flying requires 2 pilots and 2 engine aircraft.

The first European air taxi operators will likely be Bikkair and Blink. Both are funded. Both have shunned the Eclipse 500 in favor of the Cessna Citation Mustang. Bikkair located in Rotterdam states it will be flying up to 1200 European locations. Blink, headquartered in London, has ordered 30 Mustangs and projects to be operating by May. On its website, Blink has a time and cost calculator whereby you can project time and costs savings between Blink and commercial air travel. For example, it projects a Blink trip between London and Munich will save a "senior executive" 1 hour and 33 minutes and 930 EU ($1,382.05).

The Mustang has several distinguishing factors from the Eclipse. It's somewhat more expensive, larger, and from an operational perspective, it has been cleared by the FAA for flight into known icing conditions, a certification the Eclipse has yet to achieve. Nor has Eclipse received EASA certification to operate in Europe, but it expects to do so this year. Others attribute value to the fact that the Mustang is manufactured by Cessna.

A Lavatory?

The Mustang also has a single, side facing, non belted bench lavatory seat. It sits right out in the open between a rear facing passenger seat and the copilot seat against the starboard bulkhead. I'm not too sure how much use it will get. You can see it if you look very closely in the picture above. While many have debated whether a lavatory is essential for consumers to embrace the new air taxi platforms, a lav is wholly irrelevant for a true air taxi service. This is not a business jet operation. It is not a traditional charter. This is an air taxi operation. Dayjet, SATSAir and Imagine Air have already confirmed that lavs are simply not an issue. Pogo's Cameron Burr stated in a May 2006 article that Pogo was likely to choose the Spectrum 33 or the Embraer Phenom 100 as its platform because those aircraft were slightly bigger planes with fully enclosed lavs. At that time, Burr stated : "Survey after survey has shown that women won't get on a plane without a lavatory." In a July 2006 article, Bob Crandall, the retired chairman of American Airlines who is now chairman and chief executive of Pogo, agreed: "The absence of a lavatory is going to be a problem." Pogo has since chosen the non-lav Eclipse as its launch platform later this year. It's wholly irrelevant.

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