GlobeAir signs empty leg deal with JetSmarter

The world’s largest Cessna Citation Mustang operator –Austrian air taxi company GlobeAir – has sold 15,000 empty legs to mobile application-based charter provider JetSmarter in a deal valued at up to $50 million over five years.

The agreement will help fund GlobeAir’s ambitious expansion plans – which include adding up to eight more entry-level Mustangs to its 12-strong fleet by 2020 and establishing a point-to-point, low-cost, pan-European air taxi service.

GlobeAir

The contract also broadens JetSmarter’s footprint in Europe. Earlier this year, the Fort Lauderdale-headquartered company raised $20 million in private investment to fund its expansion across the continent. It now has offices in Zurich, Switzerland and Moscow, Russia.

JetSmarter was launched in 2014 with the aim of providing travellers with seamless, simple access to private jet travel via a range of dedicated apps. The company says the business jet empty legs it has acquired are being marketed to its customers at a cost-effective rate via its “JetDeals” feature.

“We have a strong and fast-growing user base across the Atlantic,” says JetSmarter founder and chief executive Sergey Petrossov, adding that the new partnership with GlobeAir will allow the company to“continue to democratise the private air travel industry, and make private jets accessible to the masses".