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Vistajet forecasts growth in 2009

Vistajet, a private jet company, is targeting a 25 percent growth rate for 2009 globally as revealed by the company’s co-founder last weekend.

In an interview with Arabian Business, Thomas Flohr mentioned that executives that flew via private jet are still spending big on travel despite the financial crisis. He said that Vistajet’s global operations have increased by 40 percent since 2008.

“We are growing at 25 percent when the overall market is shrinking, so the only conclusion I can make it we’re taking market share from other people,” asserted Flohr. “People don’t go back to commercial [flights].”

The company is expecting growth this year. However, it has decreased its initial forecast of 50 percent down to 25 percent.

“If you ask about the effects of the financial crisis, we had planned to grow the company by 50 percent,” posited Flohr. “We had doubled from 2007-08 and thought we could grow between 40-50% in 2009, but we have scaled this back.”

The co-founder cited that around seven percent of the company’s total revenue is generated from the Middle East. With operations facilities in Dubai and Beirut, the company is positioned to strengthen its hold on the region.
“We’re focusing on Europe, Asia and the Middle East, which is the centre point for those regions,” Flohr mentioned. “The goal is to grow the Middle East to a third of our business in three years. The major part of our expansion strategy is going to come from that region,” Flohr added.