If
you don't mind burning US$1,000 an hour to keep a plane in the air,
then a corporate jet like Embraer's Legacy might just be the solution for
you to beat common air travel woes like inflexible commercial flight times,
predictable airline food, poor inflight service and garrulous fellow
passengers.
You may baulk at the costs, but there are some
highly bankable names in Singapore and the region which Brazil-based
aircraft maker, Embraer, wants to meet.
In fact, someone in the region - possibly from
Singapore - has already bought one of the planes. Embraer was tight-lipped
about the person's identity and nationality, but said his Legacy jet is due
in Singapore next week.
Tagged with a baseline flyaway price of around
US$20.5 million, the Legacy is admittedly only for a privileged few. The
bill can escalate to sky-high levels. This depends on the level of luxury
owners want for their planes.
Embraer, the world's fourth biggest maker of
commercial planes, flew its Legacy luxury jet into Singapore yesterday for a
one-day media tour. The occasion marked the first time the Legacy has
touched down here.
Embraer also hopes to fly in the plane again for
the Asian Aerospace airshow at Changi from Feb 24 to 29 next year.
The large 26-metre-long plane may soon be a
familiar sight in Asian skies if Embraer's marketing pitch takes off
smoothly.
Neil Patton, spokesman for Embraer Corporate
Aircraft, said: 'We've come to Asia because we feel very strongly this is a
market that is developing. We believe that the market itself will generate
160 deliveries in mid-sized and 96 super mid-sized aircraft. We expect to
achieve 10 per cent of the market share in Asia.'
The Legacy's interior exemplifies the kind of
luxury which jet-set travellers can revel in.
The cabin's furnishings are custom-built and
owners can choose from a bewildering range of fabrics, fittings, colours,
styles and combinations, not to mention the array of office gadgets and
kitchen appliances that the plane can carry.
And before you tag the Legacy as a no-nonsense
'business jet', do remember that an almost standard request by customers is
for a double foldout bed somewhere in the roomy cabin. Well, as some airline
ads say, half the fun is getting there. - Singapore
Straits Times 15 Feb 2003
You have heard of a time-share
in Hawaii. But if you have struck it rich in Silicon Valley, what you really
need is a jet time-share.
That, at least, was what one aerospace company
hoped local entrepreneurs would decide after viewing the collection of
commuter jets it was showing recently at the San Jose International Airport.
Several dozen high-technology chief executives,
investment bankers, consultants and venture capitalists clambered about the
leather-upholstered cabins for a taste of the jet-set life.
Flexjet, a Dallas-based division of Bombardier
Aerospace, will sell a 6.25-per-cent share of the nine-seat Learjet 45 for
US$582,500, plus a monthly management fee of US$5,788 and an hourly rate of
US$1,515.
You get only 50 hours a year of flight time (you
want more, you pay more), but that is a bargain compared with the average
annual cost of a small company jet, about US$1.5 million a year.
Sales people at Flexjet call the arrangement
"fractional jet ownership", and it is a concept that is increasing
in popularity.
In 1993, there were 89 fractional jet-owners.
Today there are more than 1,100.
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway runs the
largest fractional jet-ownership programme, but Flexjet is a fierce
competitor with 436 owners and a fleet of 86 jets.
Flexjet's least expensive ownership deal costs
US$406,000.
That will get you a 6.25-per-cent share of the
Learjet 31A, a speedy eight-seater that needs a stop or two to make it
across the country.
For those people wanting to travel coast-to-coast
non-stop it means signing up for the Learjet 60 (US$750,000 for a
6.25-per-cent share, plus US$6,547 a month and US$1,780 for every hour
zooming high above the hoi polloi).
"The idea of these planes is they fly fast
and high, above air traffic," said Jackie Shaffer, Flexjet sales
director. "That makes it really wonderful if you're trying to avoid air
congestion."
About a quarter of Flexjet's owners live in
California and many are residents of Silicon Valley, says Michael Riegel,
vice-president of sales and marketing. Typically, an owner would buy the
equivalent of 25 per cent of an aircraft, which amounts to 200 hours of
flight time.
Mr Riegel said buyers were motivated by
affordability and convenience. A Flexjet aircraft can be called to make a
pick-up anywhere in the country on four to 10 hours' notice - depending on
how much of a plane you own. -
2000 April 30 Knight
Ridder
