PHILIPPE Scalabrini, President, Europe and Africa, VistaJet, the international private charter operator, has said the operator’s renewed commitment in the Nigerian market is available to offer more in terms of economic growth through its wide and rich network.
He said the operator’s network cover 96 percent of the world across 207 countries and territories and will further boost the Nigerian economy in terms of propelling foreign direct investments (FDI) and impacting on direct and indirect jobs.
VistaJet innovative flying solutions, Scalabrini said, will raise the standards of aviation business in Nigeria and having dedicated Challenger 605 in the West African sub-region due to increase in demand, the aviation brand’s unique offerings, which are unrivalled and the most convenient in the world, will redefine the landscape of private aviation in Nigeria.
The benefit of VistaJet in Nigeria is to make the private charter flyers to quickly come to discover the gulf in class between a VistaJet and other aircraft managed by private operators.
The Nigerian private aviation sector will be expected to lead the charge in this direction.
According to Scalabrini, VistaJet’s renewed commitment in the West African region, of which Nigeria is one of its target markets, raises expectations in line with the expected growth potential.
“As the global leader in business aviation, the company’s sterling reputation is unrivalled. Private charter flyers in Nigeria will quickly come to discover the gulf in class between a VistaJet and other aircrafts managed by private operators.
“The brand is a renowned paragon for safety, exclusivity, reliability, efficiency, anonymity and flexibility in the world of private aviation. And its best-in-class cabin hosts, trained by the British Butler Institute, MedAire, deliver the highest service standards.
“VistaJet’s flexible flights policy allows clients to book their flights at short notice to anywhere in the world. This capability demonstrates the brand’s assurance for trust and efficiency, as clients can request a flight directly through the VistaJet app and the 24/7 sales team, who are always on standby to manage and support seamless bookings on the Vista Members’ fleet of over 300 aircraft,” he said.
“Leveraging the VistaJet membership programme also provides great advantages. The programme offers flight-hour subscription plan tailored around each corporate or individual’s flying requirements, providing access and availability to the entire fleet, anytime and anywhere in the world, at a fixed hourly rate no matter where you are flying from or at what time. Put simply, a subscribed member in Lagos or Abuja can seamlessly book a flight to New York, Paris or Jakarta in less than 24 hours and will only pay for the number of hours he flies on a VistaJet.”
Prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, flying privately had mostly been regarded as the exclusive preserve of government officials, top executives and expatriates flying in and out of the country, a notion Scalabrini said has since changed with a portion of Nigeria’s youth population now joining the growing list of private jet travellers.
These are emerging nouveau riche, who consistently travel across Europe, Asia and the Americas to conduct businesses on an international scale.
The VistaJet president noted that with an exponential growth market in the offing, the aviation business in Nigeria needs a breath of fresh air as earlier predicted by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) that air transport market in Nigeria is forecast under the current trend scenario to grow by 174 percent in the next 20 years.
With the inescapable necessity of private jet charter in Nigeria continues to gain momentum in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, two things about the Nigerian private aviation sector that have become common knowledge is that business aviation now requires a revamp with Nigerians gradually shifting their perception towards flying private.
Therefore, in Nigeria, being the third largest private aviation operators in Africa, after South Africa and Kenya, and with the experience of the pandemic, there has been a paradigm shift from the belief that flying privately is a mere pleasure and class instead of a necessity required to beat the hassles of delays and uncertainties linked to commercial airlines.
