We have been open in Florida for 3 months now – and what a whirlwind that has been! We have already taken on a third broker – our lovely Joshua Chubb. We realised pretty soon that our 2 experienced brokers simply couldn’t handle 30+ enquiries a day. The American market is clearly very lively!
Joshua is already a very valuable member of our team – a local boy with six years worth of knowledge and experience in the private jet industry. He knows the market inside out and has a little black book of contacts worth a lot more than its weight in gold!
Together the Florida team have grown the client base to a very respectable level and have exceeded their first 3 months’ targets in financial terms and in terms of client delivery.
We are getting excellent feedback from our new US clients about our service, efficiency and organisation.
We knew our American clients would be demanding, as they are so very used to excellent client service, and it seems we come up to scratch, and beyond. As they say in the Sunshine State – “Have a great day!”
Press Release – April 2011
Private Jet Charter, one of the world’s largest independent private jet charter brokers and consultants that recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of its founding in 1991, unveiled an aggressive expansion plan in North America by establishing its regional office in Fort Lauderdale to serve as its charter hub for the United States and Canada.
Private Jet Charter founder and Chief Executive Hugh Courtenay said that the Fort Lauderdale office will be the company’s fifth in its network, complementing locations in London, Nice, Dubai and Moscow.
Courtenay, who has overseen the company’s growth from inception in 1991, said: “After expanding our marketing activities in the US market, we are now in the perfect position to set up new offices staffed by a team of specialist aviation consultants, led by our experienced Operations Director Shaun Elliott. This is a very exciting project for Private Jet Charter, as the American market has grown significantly in the past year achieving an exponential growth.
“Our site selection process initially focused on Las Vegas or Chicago, but the presence of the Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport – one of the nation’s busiest – and the assistance provided by the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance CEO Council and City of Fort Lauderdale Economic Development officials motivated us that Fort Lauderdale was indeed the right choice to use as a platform for the entire North American market,” Courtenay added.
Private Jet Charter has selected office space at 401 East Las Olas Boulevard in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Stiles Realty assisted in the office search, Coldwell Banker provided residential relocation assistance and the Behar Law Group provided corporate and immigration legal counsel.
CEO Council Chairman Ray Ferrero, Jr. said, “We are delighted to welcome Private Jet Charter’s US/Canada regional headquarters and charter hub to Greater Fort Lauderdale. It joins over 150 other corporate and international regional headquarters that call Greater Fort Lauderdale home. In addition, they are part of The Charter Club – the world’s most prestigious yacht-charter members club backed by the International Yacht Register, and we see exciting synergies between Private Jet Charter and our world famous Fort Lauderdale yachting industry.”
Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler added, “We are happy that leading companies in their fields like Private Jet Charter are choosing Fort Lauderdale as a platform to target the growing business potential occurring in the North American market. We believe that Private Jet Charter will provide value to their customers with transparent and reliable service which we are happy to see from Fort Lauderdale to the entire market.”
Florida Governor Rick Scott said, “We welcome Private Jet Charter’s choice to serve the entire North America region from Florida. This demonstrates the strategic location of Florida on the international map and speaks volumes for the significance of our efforts to reduce the burden of taxes and regulation on businesses.”
Specific benefits that the Private Jet Charter offers its customers include 24-hour service around the year, multilingual and expert staff, competitive free quotations and advice, unique CATS aircraft sourcing technology, and flight watch monitoring on all executive air charter flights. This involves keeping the traveler’s personal assistant or travel organizer informed of every stage of the journey, from limousine pick-up to take-off, flight progress and landing.
Commenting on the projected employment headcount and capital investment, Courtenay said: “Our current staff of two will be expanded to six employees over the next 18 months. This is sufficient in the first two years since our other international offices are supporting the North America office around the clock and most of the administration work will be provided by our international offices through effective systems we have in place.”
He added: “As we are a technology-led industry, we project a $2M turnover in the first year and double that in the second year of business, with our overall initial investment reaching $200,000, including consultancy fees from our management teams in other regions.”
Also, other benefits of Private Jet Charter include state-of-the-art new generation private jets, high-calibre pilots and cabin crew, use of private business and VIP terminals, check-in only 15 minutes before departure, rapid but secure immigration procedures, fly from an airport of your choice at your time, ‘meet and greet’ facilities, comprehensive airport information and limousine ground transportation, if required.
Courtenay concluded: “Our Florida office will guarantee a qualitative service at a closer proximity to our North American customers who represent a big chunk of our clientele. We are committed to servicing them with the highest degree of efficiency and professionalism, which have been the hallmarks of our relationship with our customers in general. We proudly claim that we offer an experience rather than a service.”
Private Jet Charter is an ISO 9002-certified company with 20 years of leadership in the aviation field. It is a respected provider of VIP aircraft, executive jets, helicopter charter, corporate airliners and dedicated medical evacuation aircraft.
The company accesses its global fleet through a Computerized Aircraft Tracking System which is updated automatically on a daily basis.
