On the Record with
Niall Olver, Chief Executive Officer, ExecuJet
ExecuJet believes it is the third largest conventional
executive jet charter operator in the world, coming in behind Jet Aviation and
TAG. It operates 80 part- or fully-managed corporate aircraft, nine of them are
Bombardier Global Expresses, making it the largest operator of the type.
"Opening of our new Dubai corporate jet maintenance center
will coincide with the Dubai Air Show in November," ExecuJet CEO Niall Olver
told Show News, "and over the last 12 months we have purchased Frankfurt-based
charter operator Jet Connection and appointed a second sales director for
Germany." ExecuJet took over the management of the three aircraft—two Learjet
60s and a Challenger 604—as part of this deal.
"We are still on the acquisition trail for more FBOs and
corporate jet maintenance companies," said Olver.
Show News asked if ExecuJet had made an offer for Jet
Aviation during its spell on the market? "We were interested of course, but the
price they wanted made us think that we could get there by ourselves through
more acquisitions," Olver noted.
"England is the marketplace where everybody is at the
moment. We've got five aircraft regularly operating, mainly out of Stansted,
but it would be quite interesting to do something more in the UK. These
aircraft are Danish-registered, but we are also managing another (Gulf
State-registered) aircraft for a wealthy UK family. We hold Air Operator
Certificates in South Africa, Australia, Denmark, the Middle East, Germany and
Mexico."
Monterrey is ExecuJet's Mexican aircraft management and
charter base, where they also maintain the aircraft they operate. "This
operation will eventually become a full FBO and maintenance base within the
next 18 months," said Olver.
ExecuJet is the exclusive sales and support representative
for Bombardier Business Jets in Scandinavia, Switzerland and most recently
Germany, and a total of 35 countries around the world. ExecuJet also supplies
charter uplift for Bombardier's SkyJet card membership program and this is
around 10% of ExecuJet's total charter business.
To support its sales network the company has set up a new
completions and technical assistance division and has managed ten such programs
so far.
There is a misconception that the ExecuJet Aviation Group is
a South African company. It's understandable as Olver is South African-born.
"We are Swiss-owned and always have been", explained Olver.
"I started with the company with two charter aircraft and a maintenance
organization in Johannesburg back in 1994, and was given the mandate to build
the business."
The company offers a complete package for owners which
covers crew provision, fuel, insurance, ground handling and maintenance
management. ExecuJet's Charter Call Center in Zurich has now been operational
for two years and responsible for bookings and dispatch of the company's
European based fleet.
The company operates five FBOs on three continents: Zurich
and Copenhagen in Europe, Johannesburg and Cape Town in South Africa and Sydney
in Australia. Its fleet is managed from bases in Copenhagen, Dubai,
Johannesburg, Sydney, Monterrey and Zurich. It also manages a further 17
'large' business jets, which range from Challenger 604s to a BBJ.
