More innovation in the executive jet sector: Victor Aviation

It might still be a far cry out for the majority of air travellers (including myself!) but in the past few months I have learned of a number of initiatives that have the potential to make executive jet travel more "democratic"...well, at least, for the upper segment of those that now fly commercial (Ryanair and Easyjet no need to worry for now!).

When it comes to marketing innovation in the executive aviation industry, in this blog we have already documented Blink's approach to executive aviation and Surf Air's flat fees.

The latest I learned about is Victor Aviation. I won't go in much detail here, since there is already this very comprehensive article by Dom Perry, at Flightglobal, that explains everything you need to know about this new way to fly executive.

Basically it aggregates demand to offer competitive prices to fly on executive jets. The novelty is in the transparency it brings to the whole booking process, that it is not unlike that of a normal airline.

I played around with Victor's website and it looked pretty cool too, and it allows you to do things like get alerts when seats become available on a certain route. It also provides plenty of details about the aircraft available.

Victor Aviation is, in a way, a marketplace, for executive jet seats. Although I am not a user of executive jets, this is a project I can somehow relate to, since it is not too different from what we have been doing at GourmetOrigins.com, an online marketplace for high quality foods that I co-founded, where small independent food producers can connect with foodies that look for special treats. So I take this opportunity to wish Victor Aviation's founder, Clive Jackson, the best of successes and hopefully one day will be able to experience the service!

Meet Surf Air, the Californian startup that wants to disrupt the corporate air travel market

                                                                       Picture: Surf Air

As if traditional network airlines were not facing enough competition from low cost carriers, Surf Air, a new aviation start-up based in Santa Monica, California, is proposing a business model that, if generalized, could put under strain their grip on business travelers and major corporate accounts.

The recipe is similar to that you can find in other industries such as telecoms or cable tv: an all-you-can-eat (or in this case all-you-can-fly!) flat fee...to use an executive aircraft!

What I found quite interesting, though, is the pricing: from $800 to $1500 a month, which seems quite a reasonable amount for frequent fliers, particularly when taking into account the additional advantages of flying in an executive jet.

The carrier, that is still awaiting FAA approval, is planning to fly 8-seat Pilatus PC-12 aircraft between several Californian airports, starting possibly this summer. In the meantime it is taking applications to join its member's list (again a marketing trick that is common in other industries, such as e-commerce).

While I ignore what are the economics that would make it possible to sustain its operations, expect frequent fliers and small airports to benefit greatly if surf Air's business model takes hold!

Interesting marketing approach for executive aviation

I know executive aviation is not my usual blogging topic, but when I come across something in the aviation industry that I find interesting from a marketing or business point of view I like to share it here...and this is what happened when I came across Blink, a small British executive jet operator with bases at London Blackbushe (BBS), Surrey, Geneva and the Channel Islands.

Something caught my eye in their website: the user interface looks incredibly similar to that you can find in a regular "mass-market" commercial airline and so is the feel you get when checking routes and prices...even the "last minute deals" section...executive aviation is not my field, so this might not be unusual, after all, and maybe there are some other operators providing a similar booking process and taking the same marketing approach.

I do not think I am flying with them anytime soon, but I found it interesting to see some marketing innovation in the aviation executive segment!