VistaJet’s president of Europe and Africa discusses why the latter is so important to the company
What was your career path to your current role?
I’ve been with the company for 13 years. I originally came from Bombardier in Montreal, but I joined our chairman Thomas Flohr pretty early on in the growth stage of VistaJet. We’re celebrating our 20th anniversary this year and we now have over 300 aircraft worldwide that are part of the members feet. We’ve grown pretty much through all corners of the world. We’re truly a global company. My remit specifically is Europe, Africa and Brazil and I look after the sales program for these areas. We’re really pushing new markets.
Why is VistaJet focusing on Africa?
We’ve been operating in Africa for about 15 years. Two years ago, we started to develop and push the infrastructure into Africa, so that our clients can continue to fly point to point in the same way that they do in Europe or in the USA. We’ve deployed three challenger 605s in Africa and they’re staying there, they’re basically focusing on the regional flights within the continent. We see this as a massive opportunity. The uptakes has been really good.
Have you faced any challenges with operating in Africa?
The challenge is really the size of the continent. It’s a massive place, so we needed to be in a position where we could commit to the growth and deploy as many assets as are needed to make sure that we are there for customers.
Do you have plans to expand your current fleet in Africa?
We’re planning to expand because the more customers we’re onboarding, the more planes we’re going to need. For now, there’s three aircraft that are dedicated to the African market. As we begin to have more commitment from clients, we can start to deploy more assets in the continent.
We recently did a tour of West Africa visiting Ivory Coast, Ghana and Nigeria over a three-day period.
We really want to get the word out about our operations here because a lot of people know us already on the continent, but they know us for long haul flying and not necessarily for the regional flights. So now we want to make sure everyone’s aware of this new structure.
What does the next five years look like for VistaJet?
The next five years for us is just continuing with delivering execution of the strategy. We have the infrastructure, we’ve invested heavily to have the number of aircraft and the number of offices around the world, we have maintenance centres now to make sure that our planes can continue to fly nonstop. So, our strategy is just making sure that we can grow and make sure our clients continue flying with us. We have all the tools in place right now to continue just doing what we’re already doing.
How do you stand out from your competitors?
Business aviation is a very fragmented industry. Often, you’re dealing with lots of different people in different locations and there’s no one answering the phone, because it’s different time zones! The Vista Group is an incredible network and infrastructure that means that whenever you land, you’re speaking to a team that’s in that region that will cater to your demands. We focus on end-to-end care. The consistency of the brand is also very important. Whether you get on board in Hong Kong or in New York, it’s always the same aircraft. There’s no surprises. We’ve been doing it for long enough to know exactly what people want.
