Jet Republic

Jet Republic

Type	Private jet company
Industry	Airline
Founded	2008–2009
Founder	Jonathan Breeze
Headquarters	Lisbon, Portugal
Key people	Jonathan Breeze, Viktor Popovic, Andrew Hiscock
Services	Private Jet Shared Ownership and Private Jet Card
Website	http://www.jetrepublic.com

Jet Republic was a private jet company that offered private jet cards and share ownership (sometimes known as fractional ownership). It is no longer operational.

Launch

Jet Republic launched in September 2008, with a press event held at Farnborough Airport, where the company announced a $1.5 billion (£815 million) private jet order.

The order for 110 Learjet 60XR mid-size jets from Bombardier was reported by The Guardian^[1] to be largest ever for the aircraft manufacturer, with a service aimed at entrepreneurs and high-net-worth individuals. Talking to The Guardian, Jet Republic’s founder and CEO Jonathan Breeze said, "The kind of customers we cater for will be continuing to run their businesses around Europe and could find themselves wanting to use private jets as the main airlines cut routes and services.”

However, on August 20, 2009, Bombardier announced that the contract had been terminated for the entire quantity of aircraft.^[2] No reason for the termination was made public at that time.

Services

Jet Republic's private jet club did offer members two programmes: share ownership and the private jet card.

Share ownership is for jet owners to purchase or lease a fractional share of a Learjet 60 XR by only paying for an aircraft share equal to the hours they need, starting at 50 hours a year. This programme allows owners all the benefits of private jet travel without the management responsibilities or the large initial capital investment. In addition it offers a buy-back option at the end of the contract
Jet Republic’s Private Jet Card allows card members access to flight time by purchasing 25 hours or more without any further commitment. This programme offers all the benefits of private aviation with the simple pricing structure of a one-off payment. In addition all Jet Republic members will be able to fly anywhere in the world through its partnerships with other operators. Hours on the Private Jet Card never expire and unused hours may be refunded at any time.

The Financial Times reported^[3] that Jet Republic intends to differentiate its offering by “flying the aircraft with a flight attendant as standard, a service usually provided only on larger executive jets, and with hot meals and fresh expresso coffee. Passengers will also have inflight BlackBerry connectivity.”

Management and ownership

Jet Republic was founded by former RAF pilot Jonathan Breeze, who also holds the position of chief executive officer.

Other members of Jet Republic’s management team include:

Viktor Popovic, President
Luis Vianna, Chief Operating Officer
Andrew Hiscock, Chief Financial Officer
José Luiz Monteiro, Director of Cabin Design
Peter Schickling, Director of Customer Service
Jonny Shingles, Director of Sales
Richard Thomas, Director of Marketing
Raúl Sosa, Director of Aviation
Lionel Sineux, Director of Maintenance

To fund this new enterprise, Jet Republic has been able to secure substantial financial backing from Euram Bank, the leading Austrian private bank, and a consortium of its clients.

Jet Republic's operational headquarters were in Lisbon, Portugal.

The Non-Future of the company

Irish bookmaker Paddy Power offered bets on whether JetRepublic would still be in business on 1st Jan 2010.

In an interview with the Financial Times,^[4] in April 2009, Jonathan Breeze said that the company's first aircraft would be delivered in 2009 and the company was on target for $150 million turnover, raising to $350 million in 2010.

Jet Republic said on 20 July 2009 it will cut the price of its aircraft hire Jet Card by 14 per cent to €99,000 (£85,192). A month later it was bust.

Additional references in the media

References

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