SARASOTA
A private jet charter company is expanding to Sarasota, the latest in a series of signs that luxury services are regaining traction in Southwest Florida.
Aero Jet Services, a Scottsdale, Ariz., firm that flies globally, intends to set up shop here in a Dolphin Aviation hangar, within Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport, on April 8.
"This is going to be a game-changer for us," said Mike McCain, executive vice president for Aero Jet Services, in a statement. "This strategic business move is positioning us to plan ahead for rapid growth in 2013 and the future."
The firm's arrival also dovetails with a larger recovery in the region's economy, one that is manifesting itself in travel, luxury cars, expensive boats and private charter businesses.
Last May, for example, private jet servicer Rectrix Aviation announced plans to become a scheduled carrier, running patrons from Hyannis, Mass., to Sarasota-Bradenton via Washington, D.C.
"We are clearly looking for the business traveler who travels back and forth to work, and to their second homes," said Richard Cawley, Rectrix's president. "And there is a market for that."
Aero Jet said its Sarasota site inside Dolphin, the largest fixed-based operator at Sarasota-Bradenton International, will serve as the company's East Coast hub, together with a base for the Midwest, the Caribbean islands and Mexican resort areas.
Company pilots and a Hawker 700 plane -- a mid-sized, luxury executive jet from Hawker Beechcraft Corp. that seats as many as 14 and can fly at 460 mph -- will be based in Sarasota.
Aero plans to add up to four more jets to the Sarasota-based fleet by the end of this year.
Aero offers private, international travel accommodations that have direct "over fly" access, meaning passengers do not have to stop in international customs facilities, only in the U.S. Customs depots. In addition to its headquarters in Scottsdale Air Park, Aero also maintains hubs in New York and Las Vegas, according to its website.
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