London, England, July 19, 2008 – London Executive Aviation (‘LEA’), one of the UK’s largest private jet charter operators, has added a second Bombardier Challenger 300 to its rapidly growing fleet. The new aircraft, registration G-KSFR, is expected to mimic the charter success of LEA’s first Challenger 300, and further extends LEA’s lead in offering the UK’s most diverse fleet of quality executive jets.
The super-midsize Challenger 300, which is based at Luton and available for immediate charter, has been purchased by an existing LEA aircraft owner. He was advised in his choice by LEA following very healthy demand for the company’s first Challenger 300, which has registered some 450 charter hours in little over a year, in addition to 200 hours flown by its owner. Passengers have appreciated the aircraft’s quiet and spacious cabin, flying to mainly European destinations, with an average stage length of 1,500 miles.
G-KSFR, which can seat up to ten passengers plus two crew and a stewardess, is a technologically advanced, high performance business jet with intercontinental range. It features ‘fly by wire’ controls, highly efficient Honeywell HTF7000 engines and a state-of-the-art cabin entertainment system that includes DVD/CD player, an 80mb iPod docking system, 20” flat panel monitors, touch sensitive controls at each seat position and real time in-flight map displays.
The Challenger 300s fill a niche in the LEA fleet between the midsize Citation Excel and large cabin Embraer Legacy 600. The aircrafts’ 3,200 mile range allows non-stop flights from London to destinations including Dubai and Moscow. The aircraft are capable of operating from runways as short as 1,300 metres, allowing them to serve a wide choice of destinations.
George Galanopoulos, managing director of LEA, commented: “In business aviation, one size definitely does not fit all. LEA now offers the broadest range of aircraft options of any UK charter operator, from the four-passenger, entry-level Citation Mustang, up to the large cabin, long range Embraer Legacy 600. The Challengers fit an important and popular niche beneath the Legacy and offer supreme comfort and spaciousness for groups of up to ten.”
Speaking about LEA’s role in procuring the aircraft, he said, “A crucial part of the charter operator’s job is to help owners choose the right aircraft, both to meet their own needs and to make it suitable for chartering. By helping our clients to choose their aircraft, we are able to guarantee a healthy charter income, typically 400 to 500 hours per year, which significantly defrays costs and offsets most of the owner’s private usage. We are delighted once again to have helped one of our owners make his next purchase, which shows that we are hitting the high levels of customer satisfaction and aircraft utilisation that we strive for.”
“The secret to long and strong relationships is always being responsive to the owner’s needs,” he continued. “We are always only a phone call away, with a 24/7 operations centre and a large team of trained staff. We help our owners as their circumstances change, whether it is purchasing their next aircraft or using another from our fleet that is more suited to a specific task. At all times, we have to make owners’ headaches go away and help make the best use of their aircraft assets.”
The Challenger 300 aircraft can be booked by telephoning LEA on +44 (0)1708 688420 or visiting www.flylea.com.
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Notes to Editors:
London Executive Aviation is one of the UK’s largest executive aircraft charter operators and was named Best General Aviation Operator in the Baltic Air Charter Association’s 2007 and 2006 Excellence Awards. The company operates the largest diverse fleet of executive aircraft in the UK. LEA is the only executive aviation company with a full base at London City airport; it operates five further bases around London. LEA is owned by its management and has maintained a record of unbroken profitability since it was founded in 1996. More information can be found at www.flylea.com
