Global currency business Centtrip has announced plans to make the UK and wider European private jet market a key focus in 2016, providing it with access to the live currency market and real rates of exchange, and improving the way private jet owners and operators buy their foreign currency.
The company’s reveals there are now around 594 business aircraft in the UK and that the market is growing. Indeed, the number of business aircraft delivered to the UK in 2014 was 28.6% higher than in 2010. There are around 4,277 business aircraft across Europe.
Centtrip offers a global currency account with a multi-currency prepaid MasterCard for affluent individuals and companies with a commitment to international bank payments and travel expenditure. The company now has over 5,000 clients across sectors including luxury yachting, professional services and the music and sports industries.
Tony North, co-founder and managing director of Centtrip, said, “We have enjoyed very strong growth since our launch, and to help build on this, we are excited about expanding into private aviation. It is a huge industry with over 39,000 business jet flights into Europe every month. The foreign exchange challenges facing aviation companies in Europe, and owners of private jets, are huge and we believe we will help save them a fortune by offering live rates with no spreads through one central Global Currency Account to manage numerous aircraft.
“We currently do a lot of work in the luxury yachting industry, and believe there are synergies with this and the corporate jet space. For example, the FX strategies that are in place to manage umbrella operations with a number of vessels around the world, the costs incurred by crew members traveling overseas, and fuel and maintenance payments and expenses, could all be managed and mitigated against by the private jet sector. For these reasons, the private aviation market is a real area of focus for us in 2016.”
Centtrip fees are fixed and transparent with clients paying a maximum 0.5% of the value of funds loaded to their account. Thereafter, they can send payments in all major currencies and most exotic currencies direct from their Centtrip or bank account and control expenses using the prepaid MasterCard cards with real time transactions and balances.