BAE Trading Leases 10 Jetstream 32EPs to Corporate Aircraft Partners Fractional Lease Program

BAE Trading & Services, part of BAE Systems Regional Aircraft, comes to NBAA to announce its biggest deal ever -- a five-year lease of 10 corporate BAE Jetstream 32EPs, plus another 10 on option, to Corporate Aircraft Partners of Cartersville, GA.

The Jetstreams, which will have 10-place luxury seating, will serve Corporate Aircraft Partners' fractional lease program. The first aircraft, outfitted by Rose Brothers of Mena, AK, is on show here at Lakefront Airport.

Corporate Aircraft Partners Senior VP marketing, Tom Keough, said, "We are getting a very positive response from potential customers. People want a simpler system than fractional ownership and don't want their money tied up in an aircraft asset with all the associated risks. With our system they pay an annual fee, a monthly management fee and an hourly occupied rate. They are simply buying a certain amount of flying time at an annual fixed cost." Annual membership for a two-year agreement costs $75,000, the monthly management fee is $12,500 and the usage fee is $750 per hour.

"Initially we are taking bookings for five shares per Jetstream," continued Keough. "This will reduce to three as we get more aircraft delivered. There won't be any cabin inflight service supplied for the basic cost, but coffee and croissants will be on board the aircraft for self-service. Catering and any other services can be arranged at extra cost.

"We reckon that we are appealing to the next tier down from the 'mahogany row' executive. All clients booked so far are corporate customers, but we feel that our fractional lease deal will attract a lot of individuals too. We have found that once we have explained to them the benefits of having a 10-seater turboprop aircraft at their disposal, they find ways of filling it to save money and avoid the hassle of flying out of a major airport. It has already been nicknamed the 'productivity shuttle.'

"We will be running the whole operation from Cartersville, which is about 45 minutes north of Atlanta by road," he explained. "We are concentrating our operations to the north and south of the eastern side of the U.S. We are hoping to open a second hub as the business progresses."

Another Jetstream lease deal came from Airline Trading Academy for a Jetstream 32, which will be added to its Discover Air charter fleet operating out of Sanford Airport, FL. The company already operates two Jetstream 31s at its flight training school in Orlando. This latest Jetstream 32 lease brings the company's total fleet to three J32s and two J31s.

BAE Bids for NARA Membership
BAE Trading & Services' other big news at NBAA is its application to join NARA (National Aircraft Resale Association), a professional trade association for operators that specialize in aircraft sales and brokerage.

The BAE company handles aircraft re-marketing and trading, finance, lease management and technical services under one division, with bases in Hatfield, England, Washington, D.C. and Sydney, Australia. In the past seven years it has clinched over 1,000 lease deals and sold more than 150 used aircraft. In addition, brokerage arrangements have been concluded on 30 aircraft on behalf of third party customers. The company has also been involved in transactions of Boeing, Fokker, Saab and Embraer airplanes.

Michael Canzian, VP business winning at D.C.-based BAE Regional Aircraft, said, "We are widening our product types and not just re-selling BAE-built aircraft as we did under BAe Asset Management. (This) is still part of BAE Systems Regional Aircraft, but there is a chance that it could be set up under its own name within BAE Systems in the future. With BAE Trading & Services we can widen our horizons and sell/lease other used aircraft."

BAE Trading & Services' used-aircraft portfolio thus includes other manufacturers' turboprop regionals such as the Metroliner, Bandeirante, Dash 7 and Shorts 330 and 360. "We are even in discussion for a couple of Boeing 727s for a bank customer," commented Canzian. "We are acting to represent customers on corporate jets as well. Our first focus was on the Raytheon Hawker corporate jets because of the historic BAE link. This has made it relatively easy for us to get into this market, and we have since moved into sales of Learjet 35s, Cessna Citations and Gulfstreams."