11 December 2007
A British company has announced its intention to become the first European air taxi firm. Blink, which will initially be based at Farnborough, is intending to buy a fleet of 30 Citation Mustangs to use for its operations around Europe. This makes it the largest Mustang customer in the world.
The announcement follows a round of equity funding worth $30m.
The first aircraft will be arriving in May 2008. The aircraft will be operated by TAG Aviation (UK) Ltd, already Europe’s largest charter operator. The aim, as with all the non-airline air taxi operations currently being set up around the world, is that customers should be able to turn up at the airport ten minutes before departure, and travel to secondary cities and other places not served by the main airlines.
According to Cameron Ogden, managing director and co-founder: “We are confident in Blink we have the right business at the right time. Increasingly businesses have pan-European operations that require their executives to move frequently from location to location. We have created a tool that will do that quicker and more efficiently than any other.”
His partner in the venture is Peter Leiman, who added: “The Mustang is the best-in-class aircraft that will provide Blink a tremendous competitive advantage. We are confident that the Mustang will be the ideal ‘Boardroom in the Sky’.”
