Manston welcomes private jet operation
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A private jet operator that counts royalty, presidents and other high-fliers has chosen Kent International Airport at Manston as its new UK home. Gainjet Aviation has its main headquarters in Athens, Greece, but will now base its UK sales team at Manston. They will charter the jets, which are based around the globe, from the airport.
Three aircraft – a Gulfstream 200 with 10 passenger seats, a Gulfstream 550 capable of transatlantic flight and a McDonnell Douglas MD83 VIP with 40 seats plus a bedroom onboard – will be hangared at the airport.
Gainjet recently chartered its Boeing 757 executive airliner for Manchester United and managed all five flights of the Premier League champions’ pre-season tour of Asia.
The company considered Heathrow and Gatwick as a base but chose KIA thanks to the ease of operating its planes at the airport and the results of its sales team, who live locally.
Sales team members Deborah Knips and Natalie Aylett persuaded the Athens management to make the UK operation permanent. Deborah said: “Locating us at the airport makes perfect sense for Gainjet. It ensures we can be on hand to assist crew and customers, and because we are on call 24/7 every other week we can be close to home as well as the office. The move has gone really well and we now feel much closer to our customers and colleagues by being part of the day-to-day operations at Manston.”
Captain Ramsey Shaban, chief executive of Gainjet in Athens, said: “We were confident that the team would prove themselves and the results have been tremendous.
“The next step in our UK presence was to find suitable accommodation, ideally close to an airport. Kent International was just what we were looking for. Looking ahead, it is likely that we will need to grow the team in the near future.”
Matt Clarke, chief executive of Kent International Airport, said: “We have seen a significant rise in the level of interest by private charter and business jet operators and we are delighted that Gainjet has moved in.
“From an operational point of view, Kent International Airport has a number of advantages over other airports for the private aircraft operators around the South East, and this is increasingly being recognised by operators such as Gainjet.”
Gainjet also has operations in Paris, Dubai, Sharjah and Amman.
POSTED: 07/09/2009 13:32:15