A private-aviation industry giant, Directional Aviation, just grew massively by purchasing a large chunk of the charter broker business. Directional Aviation is the private investment firm that owns fractional-ownership company Flexjet. The company also holds fractional-ownership over the jet-card company Sentient Jet and the business-aircraft remanufacturer Nextant Aerospace. Now, the company has acquired PrivateFly, a web-based charter broker that is headquartered in England and has an office in Fort Lauderdale, according to Robb Report. Directional Aviation’s OneSky portfolio of private-jet travel providers now includes PrivateFly, Flexjet and Sentient Jet.
In addition to those stated above, OneSky also includes SkyJet, another web-based charter broker, which is based in Massachusetts and continued to be in business since 1997. SkyJet and PrivateFly, according to the executives at OneSky and PrivateFly, will continue to operate independently and under their current brand names until further notice. It is likely that employees from the two brands will begin experiencing more changes compared to the customers of the two companies.
“Carol and I will continue to lead the company, and the day-to-day operations will run as usual. Our fantastic teams in Europe and in the U.S. will also remain. Thus our customers, operators, and partners will receive the same 24/7 expert service that they have come to know and expect from PrivateFly,” says PrivateFly CEO Adam Twidell.
Adam Twidell is a former Royal Air Force pilot who originally developed the technology for PrivateFly’s online booking platform. He cofounded the company 10 years ago with marketing pro, Ms. Carol Cork.
PrivateFly opened an office last year in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and continued to expand its platform over the years. The platforms now include websites and digital apps tailored with different languages and content for 19 different countries.
Twidell assures customers that the digital charter will continue on its current course and we can hope it continues to conduct its pilot surveys, which offer captivating insight for travelers. We also hope the company blog will stick around, in which Twidell and other write about subjects including the origin of the term FBO and why aircrafts tend to be white. The company has written about other topics too, such as Air Horse One—the Boeing 727 specially outfitted for transporting Thoroughbreds and other equine competitors.
Directional Aviation also announced that its flagship company, Flexjet, witnessed a 17 percent escalation in fractional and lease sales in the first half of 2018 compared to the first half of 2017. Shares of Gulfstream G450 also increased more than double of what is what before. All available hours in the two Gulfstream G650s that were delivered at the end of 2017 were also sold.Now, Directional Aviation plans to take delivery of 19 new aircrafts by the end of the year, which is a good sign for FlexJet. Two more G650s will be a part of the 19 aircrafts delivered.
