For VIP clients who value their time, comfort and mobility, Vnukovo International Airport offers business aviation services at Vnukovo-3.
The advantages of business aviation over conventional flights are clear. Business aviation passengers do not adjust to the airline's flight schedules, but choose a convenient flight schedule for them. They spend less time checking in at the airport and going through border and customs formalities.
At Vnukovo International Airport, business aviation is served by the following companies:
CJSC Business Aviation Center Vnukovo-3
Vnukovo-3 is the largest business aviation center in Russia and Eastern Europe with its own well-developed infrastructure, two VIP terminals (international and domestic), car parks and a well-maintained protected area. The apron and hangar complexes allow servicing and accommodating more than 250 aircraft of various types and modifications at the same time. The advantages of using hangars in our climatic zone are obvious: they help to save expensive aviation equipment from climatic and biological adverse factors, as well as to carry out maintenance. Hangar rooms are equipped with heating, ventilation, lighting systems, as well as an automatic fire extinguishing system.
The history of civil aviation has been around for many years. But business aviation at the same time it is a fairly young market segment. Now it is difficult to say when and by whom the first business charter was organized. It is only known that the European Business Aviation Association began its activities in 1977 - this is considered the starting point for the development of a new service.
It attracted attention with its improved quality of service, use of modern aircraft and equipment. Thus, business air transportation has conquered a significant market sector. Another relatively new concept - corporate charter - has become synonymous with a successful businessman.
Business aviation in the world
The new story for business aviation around the world was associated with a number of problems - the notorious global financial crisis led to a decline in demand and severely hit market operators. Then business aviation It practically stopped its existence - recently purchased business jets were sold at the price of scrap metal, the list of mandatory services on board was reduced to a minimum - everything went to reduce the cost of the process, which, however, suited the customers. If before that, when choosing an airline, they were interested in a wide service, then during the crisis, when choosing, they preferred the lowest prices for charter flights.
After the crisis, the charter transport market began to revive. According to experts, it is too early to talk about a full recovery, but already now many operators are again ready to provide a wide range of services and services that are included in the concept of business aviation.
Business aviation in Russia
Meanwhile, the situation in Russia is somewhat different. A concept like business aviation appeared in the country in the early nineties. The development of the new service was helped by large companies that became the first customers of corporate flights. Over time, operators have increased their efficiency by ditching aircraft ownership in favor of leasing them. This allowed ship owners to optimize their fleet of equipment, and operators - to reduce their own costs, responsibly reducing ticket prices.
After that business aviation became available to representatives of the business sphere - domestic air transportation was in special demand. The crisis has undoubtedly affected this market, but large airlines were able to withstand and continue their activities.
The future of business aviation
Among the promising areas in the development of business aviation is the availability of service - more and more companies provide the opportunity to order a charter through online applications on the Internet.
Modern business aviationassumes a wide range of individual options available to customers of business charters. Among them:
- the ability to order any route and any time of departure;
- the possibility of organizing an urgent flight;
- selection of aircraft of various capacities and different classes - this is "economy" to "VIP";
- the possibility of combining a business flight with cargo transportation - up to multi-ton structures.
Business charter or your own plane?
Large companies with serious cash flows prefer to have a private jet for business flights. The aspiration of top managers and owners can be understood - owning an aircraftc provides a number of advantages. But what happens in practice?
Regardless of whether a private jet is used or not, funds must be allocated for its upkeep and maintenance.
If, when ordering a charter flight, a client pays an amount that is determined in relation to the conditions of the flight, then flying on his own plane, he will always pay the full amount: for maintenance, for repairs, for fuel. This should also include mandatory airport duties and other payments.
And one more argument: a charter flight allows the client to take off at a convenient time. Own aircraft does not provide such an advantage - airports independently determine the time of issuance of permission for the departure of a private vessel, first of all giving priority to regular flights.
The choice of my profession was predetermined from childhood: my father was a pilot. At that time, many peers dreamed of aviation, and I - to everyone's envy - could always go with my dad to the airfield or get inside the plane.
Immediately after school, I entered the Kiev Institute of Civil Aviation Engineers. At that time, it was the only university in the country that trained flight engineers for the TU-154. After my studies, I worked for five years by profession: first as a flight engineer in the Aeroflot division in Karaganda, then I accepted an offer to work as a representative of one of the Kazakh airlines in Germany. But in 2000 my flying career ended. The earthly began: first in the passenger transportation department at East Line, and two years later he went into business aviation, where he grew up to be the manager of VIP transportation at the Aviaenergo airline. And in May 2005, he opened his own business with his colleague Dmitry Akhmedov.
How the market works
There are aviation brokers on the market who operate private aircraft. Our company is one of them. Some business jet owners give us their aircraft for management: the owner flies two or three times a month, the rest of the time the aircraft is leased. At the request of the client, we can also organize a flight on business jets of airlines or our colleagues in the market who operate aircraft.
Business jets are usually based at Moscow airports. Most of them are in Vnukovo, followed by Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo and Ostafyevo. But there are cases when planes are parked at European airports - in Riga or Helsinki. This is because the cost of locating overseas is cheaper. And if the owner of the plane does not fly on it very often, then it is cheaper to fly from Europe than to pay for basing and service at our airports.
Now there are about a hundred companies on the business aviation market. There are about fifteen major players. The rest are small firms accompanying a couple of clients. According to our statistics, 70% of clients in the market are corporations.
Since their employees mostly fly on business trips, everyone is promoting their services with the usual marketing tools - online advertising and active sales.
Flight cost depends on the supplier, route, customer and other factors. Average check
- 30-40 thousand euros
We act as brokers and only take commission; flight and fuel surcharges are paid separately. The profit in our business is not very high: the marginality is about 4-5%. So, from each flight it turns out about 1,000–
1,500 euros. The cost of the flight depends on the supplier, route, customer and other factors. The average check is 30-40 thousand euros. Of the total cost of the flight, about 30–35% will be spent by the airline on jet fuel, 17–20% - on taxes at airports, 1–2% - on air navigation services in the airport area and along the flight route, 15–17% - on board meals, 10– 12% for crew salaries. The rest falls on the operating costs of the liner, office rent and other related expenses.
The most requested direction for today is Moscow - London. Next come European cities such as Geneva and Nice. In Russia, Sochi is gaining popularity: perhaps this was due to the Olympics.
How to book a plane
We work only with Russian clients. There were a couple of orders from foreigners, but these are isolated cases. When a call comes from a client, we immediately specify the route, date, time, number of passengers and baggage. We also find out your dietary preferences. For example, if a person prefers food from a certain restaurant, then our courier can deliver it for departure. True, this is usually done by a catering company. In addition, the interior color is discussed with the client.
Then the manager starts looking for a suitable plane. We do not cooperate with any specific airlines, but we work with all. The main thing is that they have the right ship. Our employee can call, make a request by e-mail or in a special program. All information is recorded and analyzed. We take into account the best price, the year of production of the aircraft, and the reliability of the partner airline. As a result, we offer the client a choice of 5-10 options. Usually the people who call us don't know which model they want. And our job is to explain it to him.
Most often, they ask for the Challenger, he is heard by many. But this choice is not always justified. There are clients who know the brand and want it exactly. It all depends on the status and finances. If the level of the minister, his deputy, then they initially will not fly on an inexpensive plane, it will be from Challenger and above. The Global 6000 is the most popular aircraft among the elite. Business jets based on Boeing or Airbus are rarely ordered. They differ not only in the luxury of the cabin, but also in spaciousness: if usually 160-170 people can be accommodated in such an aircraft, then for private flights it will be converted to 19 seats. Most often, their owners fly on such planes, airlines do not purchase such.
They are rented out reluctantly, the owner will not give it to a stranger. Therefore, here you have to connect connections. One of the most popular and affordable business jets is the Cessna. Clients often fly on Hawker aircraft, but it is already a little more expensive. We also fly in helicopters. But their popularity is not so great, they occupy less than 5% of the total number of our flights.
The minimum time for which we can arrange a flight is four hours after the customer said: "Yes, I agree to fly." The most crucial moment comes when the flight is confirmed, invoiced and paid.
From this moment, work begins on the preparation and implementation of the flight, most of which falls on the airline. They apply for a flight to the airport of departure and arrival, receive permission to fly over a particular state. Our role is to communicate with the client and quickly receive all the necessary information from him.
All personnel on board are airline employees. Previously, it was customary to send a flight manager on a flight, who monitored the comfort of customers. At the time, business jets converted from Soviet planes were popular, there was a lot of space. In addition, the airlines were a bit wild, you had to keep an eye on them. Now on small business jets, an extra person is uncomfortable. And the level of airlines has also become much higher.
Who flies on business jets
Clients are constantly changing. Now we do not have any of the clients that we had in the beginning. The reasons are different for everyone, but mostly businessmen buy a plane and fly on their own. Or they decide that it makes no sense for them to spend money on brokers, and hire an employee on the staff who will organize flights.
Recently with us there was a client who showed up for the flight in a fur coat on a naked body, and during the flight broke the table on the plane
We have had different cases. At the dawn of business aviation, drunken men from a bathhouse could call at night with the request: "Let's fly to Ust-Kamenogorsk tomorrow." But it usually doesn't end with anything. Now we work at night when the flight is on the way. You need to be in touch to control everything.
Recently we had a client who showed up for a flight wearing a fur coat on his naked body, and during the flight broke a table on the plane. I had to compensate for the damage out of my own pocket and pay the airline a thousand dollars. There was a client who could order a flight from Moscow to St. Petersburg for 10–12 thousand dollars and at the same time persuade us not to order in-flight meals. And come on the flight with a checkered string bag, in which juice and some other food. A couple of times we drove dogs for mating in Russia.
The manager always warns in advance about the volume of the trunk. But we often hear: "There are two of us, and the salon is for ten, let's put the remaining suitcases in it." This is contrary to aviation regulations, which the captain will not allow to break. Because if an emergency landing occurs, the crew must evacuate everyone in 90 seconds, and if the cabin is littered with boxes and suitcases, then they can crush someone during an emergency landing or just get in the way.
The client, of course, cannot be canceled "what if it fits." “What if” we had recently. The client was flying out of Italy. The size of the trunk was warned. But he showed up on the flight with boxes of groceries and was very surprised why he was not allowed into the cabin with them. I had to leave something from the contents of his suitcases. This is a fairly common case: choose an airplane with a small luggage compartment, say that four or five people will fly, and bring half a house of belongings with you on departure.
How does the crisis affect
On average, we have about ten clients a month. A surge in activity is observed before the New Year, on November or May holidays. About two years ago, there were more corporate mass flights. Now there are fewer and fewer of them, we have a sales ratio of 50 to 50: business flights and private vacation flights.
Recently, a European agency reported that business aviation sales fell 19% in recent years. Although, before the New Year, the number of orders increased sharply, despite the crisis period. Either people wanted to close the ruble budgets, or we talked with those who were not significantly affected by the crisis. Of course, we will notice the decline: a decline of 15 to 50% can be easy.
The aviation market is tight and highly competitive. But still, you can find niches on it that small companies will be able to occupy. We are talking about handling, ground handling of flights. Having invested from 5 to 10 million rubles in your business, in a month you can reach “zero point” and receive the first commission. It is especially valuable to hear about how to organize this business from those who directly use the services of handlers - from the owners of airlines. The chairman of the Board of Directors of Tulpar Air Group, a popular expert of the Russian aviation market Azat Hakim, told the BIBOSS portal what requirements are imposed on handlers and what is the key to their long-term successful work in the market.
Where to start?
The hero of our article notes that opening an airline in our time is a troublesome and thankless business. This business is so serious and low-margin that newcomers have nothing to do with it. It can be a hobby for billionaires - they can afford to buy an airline and play aviation. And there are such examples, but these stories usually end in failure. To open an airline "from scratch", you need at least 150-200 million rubles at the initial start, and this is only to start, and it is not a fact that these funds can be returned. In recent years, a number of disasters in the Russian aviation market have led to the fact that the Federal Air Transport Agency is aiming at reducing the number of airlines and their consolidation. Therefore, Azat Hakim is not advising anyone to open an airline now. He also highlighted a few more niches in the market that he does not advise startups to go to. There is a lot of competition in the catering market. Training and education will require huge investments: one simulator costs like an airplane. Airplane maintenance is a low-margin business that requires high qualifications. The creation of interiors for aircraft will require the creation of a whole mini-factory and a recruitment of highly qualified engineers, and given the fact that there are almost no "unassigned" customers on the market, it will be difficult to find orders.
But it is not all that bad. If the aviation industry attracts the attention of an entrepreneur, then there is a niche in which a beginner can try his hand. This is ground handling - ground handling of flights. They are a kind of intermediaries who represent the interests of airlines in relations with the airport enterprises. The employees of the handling company - supervisors - take over the organization of the flight, negotiate with the airports about the takeoff and landing of the aircraft, meet and escort the crew, control the supply of food, maintenance, refueling and cleaning the board, provide the crew with transport and hotel rooms. You don't need a lot of money to launch such a business. However, the competition is fierce, and in order to be allowed to the airport, you must be believed, you must have connections and a reputation.
The owner of such a business must first of all understand how the aviation industry works, how flights are organized, how the airport works. He must know the technical aspects of the work of the crew, the time of departure, arrival. He must know the technology of preparation for departure, what is behind what. If he knows all this, for example, because he studied to be an aviator, graduated from an aviation institute, worked somewhere in the industry, then he will be able to negotiate with the airport. You can start without an office - regulate processes from home, even from a car. But as you grow, you will need to rent a room inside the airport so that there are supervisors who meet the crew and serve the aircraft.
As a rule, the handlers themselves do not clean the aircraft cabins or do maintenance. They just take care of the airlines and pay for take-off and landing at airports, negotiate with cleaning companies, maintenance companies, catering companies, fuel companies, order minibuses for the crew. It is not profitable for the airlines themselves to maintain a huge staff of employees who would deal with all this incredible number of issues at each airport. And it would be difficult to staff it: it requires a completely different qualification, different experience and other knowledge, and the training of appropriate specialists for each carrier would be too expensive and take too much time.
Azat Hakim
Tulpar Aero Group
It is not easy for novice handlers to get to the airport. The airport management is trying to take this business into their own hands, as a rule, their companies work, registered as dummies. But with a strong desire, you can get to the market. There are a lot of ways. For example, recently some guys surprised me. They contacted me, made an appointment and offered their handling services at all airports in the world. They themselves lived in London, moved to Moscow, because they believe that the market is growing here. They have offices in Europe and Malta, work in many European airports, in Moscow. The competition is fierce there, but they succeed. Why? They know English perfectly, have a good education, are very energetic and charismatic. If I was already persuaded, it says a lot. From the first meeting, I believed in them. This is world-class handling. And they started only 5-7 years ago. But their advantage is that they also organize the flights themselves. Not every airline has such strong specialists to quickly and competently "break through" a permit to fly to other countries, this is a difficult process. But these guys have worked everything out, they provide a full range of services, up to permission to fly to another country. They also take all costs on themselves, the airline can pay these costs and their services after the flight or even after a month. This is the main advantage of turning to handlers, since the airline does not always have free money before the flight, but it is already necessary to fly.
What other market nuances do you need to know? You need to know by sight the participants in this market - airlines, aircraft owners, everyone who will use your services. And start searching: who will become the starting customer, at which airports with whom you can negotiate.
Investment size
Azat Hakim
Tulpar Aero Group
For an airline to trust, you need a personal contact, you need to come, meet, I need to see these people. Only after that I give the command to sign the contract.
Where to look for funds to launch? Experts advise against borrowing. The business is low-margin, and the credit interest will eat up all your income, you can even go into the red. For a startup, this is not an option. You can sell free real estate and invest your own funds. Or find investors and partners. For state support funds, this type of business is not interesting.
The running costs of this business will depend on the volume of orders. In addition, if you recruit a staff, you will need to pay salaries and pay for business trips, because the supervisor must be in the city where the serviced plane will arrive in advance in order to negotiate with the airport, prepare the runway, and so on.
Step-by-step instruction
Some handling companies enter into contracts with refueling companies, buy kerosene and refuel the aircraft themselves, thereby earning more. If the fuel company does not want to conclude an agreement with you, know that this is not prohibited by law today. You can complain to the anti-monopoly committee, and they will quickly be forced to sign the contract and put the fuel into storage.
The airline should not have any problems during the flight - this is the task of the handling company. If suddenly there was a malfunction and the plane landed on the emergency lane, you need to quickly organize a refueling there, etc. Sometimes the handlers also take over the services of issuing visas for the crew.
Azat Hakim
Tulpar Aero Group
What kind of staff do you need to work? At the beginning, 2-3 people are enough. The more customers, the more you need to have specialists. A company with serious turnover employs a maximum of 30 people. Each manager takes one or two flights and specializes in them - some in the south of Europe, some in the north, some take over Asia. Of course, this requires knowledge of the language. There is no point in hiring a person for a supervisor position without knowledge of English. As a rule, work around the clock - mainly due to the time difference between cities and countries. Therefore, it is necessary to provide for a shift organization of work. Plus, employees must understand finance, accounting, since all their work is related to payments for the services of organizations. Also, handlers must be sociable, be able to negotiate and quickly respond to changes in conditions.
Azat Hakim
Tulpar Aero Group
The handler's earnings depend on his ability to obtain discounts from airports, cleaning companies, hotels, maintenance companies. Due to these discounts, the handler's competitiveness increases - he can offer his services at lower prices. However, the handler can bargain with the airline: if it is ready to pay for your services today, they will cost, conventionally, a thousand dollars. If she is ready to pay only after a month, then you can increase the agent's commission, since it turns out that you give the airline money at interest. And airlines do it because they understand that money is expensive. But what percentage you can negotiate with them depends on your art. As a rule, in case of an annual delay, 10% per annum is added.
At first, the premises may not be rented. Airlines usually don't even ask if you have an office. The main thing is that you cope with the organization of the flight without delays, because the laws of the market are cruel: once you let the customer, or rather his passengers, fail, he will no longer work with you. But later you will realize that the rented space in the airport building is not a luxury, but a necessity. The supervisor must be close to the airfield to quickly receive and track arrival information and meet the plane on time. Its area can be small - 10-15 sq.m. This is a simple room where supervisors can stay when, for example, an arrival is delayed.
Documents
No special permits are required to start this business. Previously, this type of activity was licensed, but today this procedure has been canceled, since it does not require special knowledge, but only entrepreneurial acumen and organizational skills. A person can work at the airport for some time, and if he is smart and proactive, he will cope with the management of a handling company.
Opening checklist
- Analysis of the market and competitors (range of services, prices, personnel, etc.),
- Choice of range of services,
- Registration of an individual entrepreneur or LLC, registration with the tax office,
- Search for employees (if necessary),
- Conducting interviews, selecting candidates,
- Shift scheduling,
- Loan processing (if necessary),
- Searching for the first clients-customers through negotiations,
- Conclusion of contracts with service providers of the airline.
Is it profitable to open
The cost of the company's services consists of the cost of organizing the flight and the agency commission. On average in the market, the agency commission is from 3 to 10% of the cost of all expenses. Sometimes 10% is taken - in case the flight needs to be organized urgently, for example, on the same day. It is not easy to get an arrival permit from the country in such a short time, you need to make a lot of calls, spend a lot of energy. And airlines, realizing this, go to increase the commission.
Business aviation is going through hard times during the crisis. But despite the difficulties, many companies continue their activities and even make plans for the future. As it turned out, the Russian business transportation market, in contrast to commercial aviation, is almost entirely occupied by foreign companies and their regional offices. Top Flight sources report that the number of international and domestic flights under the flag of foreign airlines (including flights of business jet owners and charter flights) is several times higher than the number of flights operated by Russian carriers.
Active, that is, open
The business aviation market in Russia is traditionally considered closed: the owners of companies are reluctant to disclose data on the number of flights and passengers carried, as well as the direction of transportation. In addition, business aviation operators are not included in the ratings of the Transport Clearing Company (TCH), since TCH and small airlines have not signed agreements on the publication of information on passenger traffic.
Despite this, as part of a series of special Top Flight projects, we made an attempt to identify the most active airlines in the business aviation market in Russia. The statistics were based on the opinions of market participants, information from the carriers themselves and from Top Flight's own sources. The openness of companies and the speed of data provision were also taken into account. Certainly, some are still "overboard", but we hope that in the future such ratings will become not just "good form", but an active tool for studying the Russian business aviation market.
The crisis is over
If in the old days the industry grew by tens of percent annually, now the number of business aviation charters has decreased by 30-40%, and operators' revenues have fallen by 60%. According to the President of Jet Group, Alexander Evdokimov, while reducing the total number of flights, the number of passengers fell by only 15-20%. But if earlier five people flew on a 10-seater airliner, recently business jets are much more loaded.
At the same time, passengers are more likely to choose smaller aircraft. "Today, the main demand is for liners with a flight hour cost of $ 4-4.5 thousand versus $ 6-8 thousand, which were in demand earlier. Entrepreneurs began to really count money, they even agree on the hotels in which the pilots live, and their taxi costs. ", - says one of the executives of Jetalliance Sergey Koltovich.
Many agree that it is impossible to stimulate demand by lowering prices, since the share of fixed payments in the cost of owning an aircraft is high. The owner of the National Reserve Corporation, Alexander Lebedev, clarifies that this amount is approaching $ 5-7 million a year (the entrepreneur himself prefers to fly on a rented liner). Timur Devyashov, head of the Russian representative office of Cirrus Group, explains that due to the reduction in the number of charters, the idea of \u200b\u200bdepreciating an aircraft by leasing to third parties has become irrelevant. Only those liners fly that are provided with orders from large corporations. The annual flight time of aircraft that could be leased and fly 1,000 hours a year now reaches only 200 hours.
In total, according to our calculations, about 2200-2400 business jet flights are carried out in Russia per month. According to some reports, about 60% of them are operated by foreign companies (including private and commercial flights). However, there is no official statistics on the total number of business aviation flights operated by operators in the Russian market, and the information received from various sources varies greatly.
How did we calculate? It is known that the average number of business aviation flights per month in Vnukovo-3 this year was 1,340. In the Moscow air hub, Vnukovo-3 accounts for about 70% of business aviation flights, that is, in Moscow alone, there are about 1,914 business jet and business flights -liners monthly. The second place in terms of the volume of business aviation flights belongs to the St. Petersburg airport - Pulkovo. True, many operators also name other Russian cities. Therefore, assuming that Moscow accounts for approximately 80% of Russian business traffic, there are approximately 2,400 flights across Russia.
By the end of 2009, the business transportation market began to revive. According to the ARG / US research group, as early as September 2009, flight activity in the US business aviation sector reached its highest level since October 2008 and not only increased by 2.7% compared to August 2009, but also by 0.4 % increased against the corresponding period of 2008. In Europe, it was also possible to notice how the number of flights for some operators gradually crept up. For example, the Finnish company Jetflite in August made up to 14 VIP-flights a week only to / from Russia (and about 2/3 of them were in St. Petersburg).
According to Alexander Evdokimov, the market decline in Russia has stopped since the end of August. But the imminent recovery is still being spoken of with caution. "If there is no economic downturn, the growth of business transportation will begin in March 2010," he said. Sergei Nedoroslev, president of Kaskol Group of Companies, agrees with him (the company has participated in two projects in the field of business aviation - Velvet Club and Dexter). According to him, the Dexter project has no fewer clients, but even more. But Velvet has frozen its activities.
Dumping specialist
VistaJet, founded in 2004, is one of the major players on the Russian market. Today, this private airline, headquartered in Switzerland, according to experts, holds a significant share in the international business aviation market in Russia.
In 2008 VistaJet completed the acquisition of the charter division of Bombardier Skyjet International and became the second largest business jet company outside North America. At the same time VistaJet placed an order for 35 Bombardier business jets with an option for another 25 aircraft worth $ 1.2 billion. According to the carrier, by 2012 the number of VistaJet aircraft should approach 50-75. A solid fleet is one of the operator's obvious advantages in the market. The other is prices close to dumping ones. For example, renting a Learjet 60 can cost 3100 euros per hour. "Nobody has below!" - exclaims Evdokimov. All this gives the company the opportunity to make about 100 flights to / from Russia per month.
Return of Aeroflot
One of the notable events of this year in the business aviation market was the announcement of the purchase of Aeroflot Plus by the Austrian business operator Jetalliance. The deal is estimated at $ 2 million, for which Jetalliance will receive 51% of shares in Aeroflot's subsidiary by the end of 2009. Also, the new owner will have to deal with the company's debt, which exceeds 80 million rubles. Sergey Koltovich, former Aeroflot-Plus general director, will be engaged in the creation of the Russian project Jetalliance. According to him, in the Russian market, the carrier will use 30 aircraft registered in Russia on domestic routes. Before that, no one had registered such a number of business-class aircraft in our country.
According to the company's plans by the end of 2010, at least four business jets will be imported. In order for the purchase to comply with Russian law, Jetalliance will directly own only 49% of the shares, while 2% will be held by a specially created Russian legal entity. Jetalliance says that the Russian market is extremely important for them, since about 30-35% of the company's orders come from Russia and the CIS countries.
Largest foreigners
Despite the drop in revenues, NetJets remains one of the active players in the Russian business transportation market. According to the company itself, the number of flights to / from Russia per year is about 1,000, that is, on average, more than 80 flights per month.
In the world fleet of NetJets there are 47 Hawker 750 / 800XP business jets, 40 Cessna Citation Excel airliners, 27 Hawker 450, 18 Cessna Citation Bravo, etc. Due to the drop in aircraft lease sales (by 79%) and low profitability of such flights the operator's revenues for the first nine months of this year decreased by about $ 1.5 billion, or 42%. The search for new customers, including in Russia, can become an anti-crisis tool, the carrier believes.
Today, out of 6 thousand NetJets customers around the world, about 100 are from our country. "The company now has a total of 870 aircraft and 4,000 pilots, who fly 300,000 flights a year," said Graham Weston, President and CEO of NetJets Europe. At the same time, according to him, after five years of working in Russia, NetJets Europe realized that a Russian buyer is an ideal for the company's development. NetJets Europe has a fleet of 150 aircraft.
About 100 flights per month are operated by Global Jet Concept, which is not only the owner of the liners, but also a large operator of aircraft owned by Russian citizens, which provides it with a high share of the business transportation market.
In nine years, Global Jet Concept has become the leading private airline in Europe. The operator operates over 60 aircraft such as BBJ, A-318 Elite, Falcon 900 EX, Gulfstream G450 & G200, Falcon 2000, Challenger 604 & 300, etc.
Thus, operators such as Vista Jet, NetJets and Global Jet Concept occupy the first positions in our ranking. The Finnish Airfix Aviation can also be attributed to large air carriers. According to Top Flight sources, the company operates approximately two flights a day.
One of the most active business aviation operators in Russia is the British company Ocean Sky, known to the general Russian public for the James Bond film "Quantum of Solace". The company has existed on the market since 2003 and over the six years of its development managed to open offices in London, Manchester, Prestwick, Zurich and Moscow.
Today Ocean Sky is one of the five leading European business aviation operators. In 2008, it received additional funding from shareholders in the amount of £ 32 million for an aggressive expansion program in 2009 and 2010. Ocean Sky's annual turnover in 2008 was € 90 million.
According to Irakli Litanishvili, Managing Director of Ocean Sky in Russia and the CIS, the number of international flights in the Russian business aviation market, which the company operates, averages 50-60 per month. Of course, these numbers increase during peak seasons. There are business jets that fly several flights a day, such as the Challenger 604/605, Gulfstream G550 or Global Express, he adds.
At the same time, Irakli notes that recently the share that Ocean Sky occupies in the Russian market has slightly decreased. "This is due to the fact that the company is now changing its fleet and revising its business model with the participation of new management," he says. There are three planes on VIP flights today, but the number of "commercial" business jets should increase by February. Another reason for the decrease in traffic volumes is the fact that Ocean Sky has retained the traditional pricing of VIP flights, remaining one of the most prestigious and expensive VIP carriers in the business aviation market.
The merged Ocean Sky company currently has 32 aircraft, of which slightly more than half are based in England and Dusseldorf, and in Vnukovo, according to Irakli Litanishvili, there are up to 10 aircraft.
“Over the past year, our business model has changed significantly. We have focused on the management of the owners' aircraft. The high level of service and strict control over the operating costs of our own aircraft, which is a priority for Ocean Sky's operations, have significantly expanded our fleet," says Irakli.
Domestic jet
Often, the first place among domestic business carriers in the ratings is given to the operator RusJet. This may be true, as it is the largest Russian business jet owner and management company. In total, RusJet has 17 aircraft, which are based at Vnukovo-3 airport, but only 8 of them are Russian (Tu-134 and Yak-42), and 9 foreign are under the operator's control. According to Maya Shishko, the airline's commercial director, RusJet operates about 100 flights a month, and about 60 of them are international. Russian destinations are mainly represented by Novosibirsk, Surgut and Noyabrsk.
Jet-2000 can be called another active player in the business transportation market. According to the company's representatives, Jet-2000, on average, makes up to 60 flights on six planes (not counting flights of the brokerage department), of which about 80% are international. And the most popular aircraft (if we talk about commercial flights) is the Hawker 850 XP.
More modest figures are cited by other airlines, increasingly citing the economic downturn. 2009 was not the most favorable year for business aviation in Russia, the Russian airline Barcol states: in comparison with 2008, demand fell by about 30-35%. The average number of flights operated by Sirius-Aero air carrier per month is 20-25. Today, the operator's fleet includes six aircraft (two Hawker 700/800 business jets (in operation) and four Tu-134s). About 10-15 flights a month are carried out on five airplanes by the CJSC Production Association Cosmos, which is part of the Energia Rocket and Space Corporation named after S.P. Queen.
They have everything ahead
According to experts, the crisis did not help clear the business aviation market of small operators and consolidate large ones - on the contrary, the fragmentation became even more noticeable. At the same time, companies that traditionally hold significant shares in foreign markets are not always so visible in Russia.
Austrian Amira Air GmbH, founded in 2004, is a significant, but not a large operator on the Russian business aviation market. The company mainly specializes in flights from its base airport in Vienna. Today Amira Air GmbH has seven aircraft in its fleet. The Challenger 300 is in great demand among Russian customers, according to company representatives. On average, the Austrian operator makes 15-20 flights to / from Russia per month. At the same time, Amira Air GmbH says that unfavorable economic conditions in the market influenced the formation of the cost of flights, and today the correct pricing in 99% of cases is one of the significant keys to success.
Turkish Arkasair reports that the airline flies about 10 flights a month on the large Challenger 604 and the same number on the medium-class Challenger 300 business jet, as well as about seven flights on the Learjet 60. However, this year the numbers are slightly lower.
The Russian division of the Cirrus Group has recently become less active in the Russian market. But, according to representatives of the airline, they tried to achieve this effect by dividing the large business within the group into a number of small ones. So, Timur Devyashov believes that each carrier should not have more than eight liners, "and all companies work as part of a group, but are independent." At the moment, the Cirrus Group has two airliners based in Russia (Challenger 300 and Embraer Legacy). The group includes carriers Silver Bird and Egojet. Egojet operates primarily in the Russian market and has many direct customers. On average, a group makes one flight a day in Russia. Her clients are 150 individuals and 10 corporations.
Lufthansa Private Jet (LPJ), a subsidiary of the German carrier Lufthansa, sold 20 flights from / to Russia in 2009. But do not forget that this is not the main activity of the carrier.
If in 2008 the company sold flights of its partner NetJets, now, having received seven Cessna aircraft, it offers its own charters. According to Ronald Schultz, Regional Director of Lufthansa for Russia and the CIS, the company currently has a good experience of working with Vnukovo and Domodedovo. "The demand of Russian customers for individual Lufthansa Private Jet flights is stable. We also have several regular customers in Europe who fly to Moscow on business. However, we hope that when the economic situation improves, LPJ will return to its previous growth in Russia - Schultz says, "This will be driven by increased regional interest in direct flights to European airports, or to our hubs in Frankfurt, Munich and Zurich for onward transfers to long-haul Lufthansa or SWISS flights in First Class."
Top most active air carriers in the business aviation market in Russia
| Name | The total number of performed flights on average (domestic / international) * on the Russian market per month | % of the total business aviation flights in Russia per month (2400) | Number of aircraft in the fleet | Year of foundation |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jetalliance | 150 | 6,25% | 31 | 1996 |
| 2 | Vista Jet | 100 | 4,1% | 23 | 2004 |
| Global Jet Concept | 100 | 4,1% | Over 60 | 1999 |
|
| "RusJet" | 100 | 4,1% | 17 | 2006 |
|
| 3 | NetJets | 84 | 3,5% | 150 (in Europe) | 1996 (in Russia since 2004) |
| 4 | Jet-2000 | 60 | 2,5% | 6 | 1999 |
| Airfix Aviation ** | 60 | 2,5% | 6 | n / a |
|
| 5 | Ocean sky | 55 | 2,3% | 32 | 2003 |
| 6 | Group of companies "Premier" | 35 | 1,45% | 7 | 2006 |
| 7 | Cirrus Group | 30 | 1,25% | 46 (including regional aircraft and those operated by a / c) | Links
