| Georgian President to buy USD 2.8 mln Business Planes from Tbilaviamsheni |
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24/06/2008 00:58 (595 Day 21:13 minutes ago) | |||||
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The FINANCIAL -- The Georgian Airline building company Tbilaviamsheni in joint cooperation with American company Epic has launched a 7 seat business jet under the name Elite. The cost of the jet, which landed in Tbilisi international Airport on June 16, is USD 2.8 million.
According to Pantiko Tordia, Head of the Board of Tbilaviamsheni, the President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili , has already shown interest in buying two of the jets.
“To build this jet we invested USD 10 million, 5 million from the Georgian and 5 from the American side,” declared Pantiko Tordia, Head of the Supervisory Board of Tbiaviamsheni.
“High quality and the new market potential was our motivation to start this project with Tbiaviamsheni. It’s very important when doing business to know who the right partner is, someone who knows the region and can do quality work,” Rick Schrameck, CEO of Epic said.
“Epic was seeking a company which would provide high quality. Unfortunately, we have a cheap work force and this is the only reason the Americans got interested in our company,” Tordia said.
“Nowadays only 300 private jets fly in the USA and more than 90% of them are old models. We launched a more modernized jet, “said Schrameck.
“Elite was projected by Georgian engineers and is composed of non-standard material, no used metal was included. There are only 5 companies in the whole world that produce jets without used metal and one of these rare producers is Tbiaviamsheni,” Tordia said.
“I travelled to the Czech Republic, to Holland, Ukraine , MOSCOW , Germany, Switzerland and Georgia looking for suppliers of different accessories. And from my first trip it was very clear that the quality in Georgia was extremely good,” said Schrameck.
“This jet is not like Singapore Airlines but a service which you would normally find in an air taxi. There is a minibar with food and drinks, also radio and movies are available, so it’s not just Easyjet. Also the concept of this jet is not for regular trips; it’s for private, or corporative and business targets,” said Schrameck.
The flight length of Elite is 2,700 kilometres and speed - 650-770 k/h.
According to Tordia, at the moment only one jet is in flight and it’s still in the process of testing. This plane will be certified by a Russian program and in a year and a half serial producing will be started. “We decided to test this plane by Russian certification as it’s cheaper than American, which costs USD 70 million,” said Tordia.
As he noted, this jet is usable during the certification process, but not for the purpose of commercial flights. However it can be used for private purpose, for anyone with the money and desire.
“Of course it’s a luxury, but it will be very attractive for private companies, or middle-size companies who need emergency relocation, also for the presidents of companies,” Schrameck said.
This service is very popular all over the world and serious companies order a number of hours from such companies at the beginning of every year. If anyone wants to fly with our jet, the approximate cost of travel is USD 1 per seat, per mile.
According to Tordia, if they receive demand, Tbiaviamsheni can build a jet in 3 months.
“We produce 250 military planes in a year. And if there is need of 500 private jets we can build them. If we manage to sell 100-150 jets a year, it will be very good business for us,” said Tordia.
According to Tordia, Tbilaviamsheni already has an order of 600-700 jets from a Russian company which has created an air taxi system.
According to Schrameck, 90% of the world market for jets was to the United States 5 years ago. The global market now includes Eastern Europe, Russia, India, Asia and China which constitute 50% of the market, so it’s become much more diversified.
“After several years the market potential outside of the United States will be approximately USD 500 million. So I think it will be a very profitable business,” said Schrameck.
According to Tordia, Tbiaviamsheni is producing another 4 seat private jet which will be called Tam Jet. The company has already invested USD 3 million in this project.
The Eclipse 500 is a small six-seat business jet aircraft manufactured by Eclipse Aviation. It is the second of a new class of business jets called Very Light Jets (VLJ), following the delivery of the first VLJ, the Cessna Citation Mustang in late 2006. The aircraft is powered by two lightweight Pratt & Whitney Canada PW610F turbofan engines in tail-mounted nacelles.
“Brazilian Embraer is not in the market yet, they are arriving at about the same time as us, but Cessna has been in the market for many, many years and they are fantastic,” stated Schrameck.
“We are going to compete with Cessna. Why not?! Our airplane looks better, goes faster, for a longer distance, carries more people and costs less money.”
Cessna was established in January 2004 in Dubai, UAE, and provides charter, aircraft sales brokerage and aircraft management services. The company holds an Aircraft Operator’s certificate (AOC) from the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and currently operates a fleet of Citation CJ3, Hawker 850XP, and Challenger 604 aircraft and expects the delivery of a brand new Challenger 605 and Falcon 900 in October 2008. Charter clients include VIPs, individual business and corporate executives as well as leisure travellers from the Middle East and around the world.
Epic Aircraft is a general aviation aircraft manufacturer in Bend, Oregon. They currently offer one certified model, and four experimental models.
The Elite is an experimental twin-engine jet, with aspirations of certification. Build off of an LT model fuselage with cosmetic and structural changes.
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