FlyingGroup is positioning itself as a high-quality specialist in the management of midsize and large business jets, even while it has also developed expertise as one of the leading PC-24 operators. It is also mulling a unified EASA AOC across the group, chairman and chief executive Bernard van Milders told ch-aviation in an interview at the EBACE conference in Geneva.

"We are more focused on the midsize and especially the larger and long-range jets. We think the charter revenue is better [in this segment], and the quality of service required is a higher priority than on the smaller end, especially the light jet segment. Our priority is to be a top-level quality service operator, and this is important, mostly, in the large jet segment," he outlined.

The Belgium-based holding has three AOCs: Flying Service in Belgium, Flying Group Luxembourg, and Hyperion Aviation in Malta. Between them, the three AOCs operate eleven Dassault Aviation aircraft (one Falcon 900EX EASy, three Falcon 900LX, one Falcon 2000S, one Falcon 2000LX, two Falcon 7X, and three Falcon 8X). Van Milders praised the French manufacturer for the quality of its aircraft and after-sales service while highlighting that FlyingGroup is known as an experienced Falcon operator. Nonetheless, he was careful to stress that the group is not a "single OEM operator" and emphasised that other manufacturers also ensure high quality.

The group's fleet also includes Textron Aviation, Bombardier Business Aircraft, Honda Aircraft, and Learjet types, namely Citation Bravo, Citation Jet 3, Citation Jet 3+, Citation VI, Citation VII, Citation Sovereign, Global 5000, Global 6000, Global 7500, Challenger 605, Challenger 650, Challenger 850, HondaJet Elite, and Learjet 45 types.

To support its focus on high-quality aircraft management services with charter opportunities, FlyingGroup has developed a full range of services, including maintenance facilities at Antwerp airport and line maintenance stations and hangars at other airports such as Paris Le Bourget.

"We are clearly focusing on being a service company. We are developing our business mainly towards aircraft management, and, at the request of the aircraft owners, we are doing charter flights, which we are very keen to develop. We think it's a very good revenue model, also for the owners, because it brings down considerably the cost of owning an aircraft," van Milders explained.

Light jet outlook

FlyingGroup launched in 1995 as a fractional ownership specialist focused on smaller jets. However, since the financial crisis of 2008, this business has not been a priority due to declining charter prices and low yields. There are no plans to exit the fractional ownership business, van Milders said (the group is still adding some light and midsize aircraft to this division), but it is "on slow development". "We are not an investor in large numbers of aircraft, and we are not a charter company," the executive stressed.

Even though charter prices have recovered since the crisis, the operator remains less interested in the very light and light jet segments. It wants to be focused on serving the owners of its managed fleet. Operating their aircraft and chartering them out according to their needs remains the clear priority.

It exited Citation Mustangs, which it had in the fractional ownership programme in the past. It is still buying Citations for the fractional ownership programme, but the priorities lie elsewhere.

Despite the focus on larger aircraft, FlyingGroup has also become an expert in the PC-24 type. It currently operates six on the Luxembourg AOC and a further three on the Belgian one. It initially entered this segment by acquiring a PC-12 and a PC-24 in an opportunistic deal following the collapse of another Antwerp-based operator. This quickly generated a pull factor, as customers owning or planning to buy a PC-24 were now drawn to FlyingGroup.

"We were the reference in operations of the PC-24s. We had a lot of pilots qualified on the type - and it was pretty hard to qualify and get pilots on the PC-24 because the training capacity, two years ago and even last year, was very limited. We have more than 20 pilots qualified for the PC-24. We have a lot of expertise," van Milders said.

He added that Pilatus Aircraft has "done an extremely good job with the PC-12", creating a stream of loyal aircraft owners who looked to the PC-24 once they needed to transition from a turboprop to a jet.

AOC consolidation plan

Van Milders said the three AOCs, although all based in the European Union, are currently required to cater to aircraft owners' preferences. The Maltese AOC is particularly appealing to non-EU owners, while the Belgian and Luxembourgish ones are geared more towards Benelux owners. Despite not having local AOCs, the group also has aircraft registered on the Dutch PH- and French F- registers, which is important to some owners.

While the group has a limited degree of specialisation - for example, the Luxembourg AOC operates most of the PC-24s - in general, there are no strict rules about placing specific types on a particular AOC. Van Milders praised the relationship with all three regulators.

FlyingGroup is currently evaluating applying for a single AOC for its three airlines under the EASA umbrella. Although certified on a European level, the AOC still needs to be located in a specific country, and van Milders said the decision had not been made yet.