"Oxfordjet" Facility Still Growing After Six Months

Oxford Airport, UK, opened its new Oxfordjet business aviation facility on July 17 and will make its debut appearance at booth 832 at the NBAA Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference in Long Beach, CA, Jan. 13-16. Head of Customer Services David Surley and Customer Service Representative Diane Pashley will attend the conference.

Oxford Airport's terminal provides triple the space of the previous general aviation centre. The airport’s fire and rescue service has also been upgraded to Cat 4 RFFS, enabling charter operation of aircraft types ranging from the Citation Sovereign or Hawker 4000, through all the Dassault Falcon and Bombardier Challenger Series. Higher RFFS cover will be available on demand during 2009 for Legacys, Gulfstreams, and Globals.

The construction of a new 21,000-square-foot hangar, Hangar 11, is on schedule for completion this spring. Hangar 11 will be big enough to house an Airbus A318 or Embraer Lineage business jet.

PremiAir last year selected Oxford Airport’s Hangar 1 as the new home for its fixed wing maintenance operation. The £1 million investment in the refurbishment included new apron areas and a total re-fit including bespoke electrics, lighting, heating and modern insulation. PremiAir’s new hangar has been approved for EASA Part 145 for base maintenance and is a new centre of excellence for Beechcraft MRO.

Other developments in the pipeline for 2009 include exploring the feasibility of a General Aviation Centre with T-hangars to accommodate general aviation piston-engined aircraft and the establishment of new office block and/or a second floor addition to the oxfordjet terminal to accommodate new businesses keen to relocate to Oxford.

Start-up private jet charter operator FlairJet plans to take off from Oxford Airport from May 2009, with an initial two Embraer Phenom 100 entry level jets. Further options are available for 2010 delivery. Headed by Monarch Airlines’ Captain David Fletcher, Flairjet is planning a route network of charter services with the four-seat jets, covering mainland Europe, plus UK domestic cities.