Hotelier and pilot Ruchir Gupta is launching an owners' club which he believes will lead to shared ownership of a fleet of Eclipse 500s and Citation Mustangs.

Gupta, md of the Farnborough, UK-based Speedflight, explains: "The owners buy a share in Speedflight and a share in the assets, initially into our first Total Eclipse, now based in Luton airport. Under a shareholders' agreement each co-owner becomes the operator of the aircraft when it is being flown for their own missions. This way it stays a non-fractional operation and enjoys many cost advantages. In the fractional approach, adopted by companies such as NetJets, the owner and the operator are separate entities."

Gupta says that shared ownership enables owners to save a great deal of money on fixed costs such as insurance, crew salaries, hangarage and operations. He adds: "There are still the variable costs such as fuel, flight planning and crew for non-pilot owners but owners only pay fixed costs in proportion to use."

Gupta, who has chalked up more than 200 hours on the Mustang, says that it and the Eclipse 500 are complementary and that a fleet of three Eclipse 500s and two Mustangs would be ideal for shared ownership. "The Eclipse is more cost-effective for two passengers looking to travel perhaps 1,100nm with two pilots," he points out. "The Mustang comes into its own when there are three or four passengers and two pilots." Gupta says that fractional ownership/charter makes sense for some low hour users but can cost around €1,800 an hour. "Shared ownership reduces the costs to around €900/€1,100 an hour," he adds.

Gupta drew on his combined business and aviation background to design Speedflight for pilot owners and non-flying owners. He studied at Schiller University, Heidelberg and trained as a pilot in London before going on to own three hotels and a pub in the UK. "It doesn't make commercial sense for someone who flies less than 300 hours a year to own a whole jet. NetJets and similar fractional schemes work and have been very successful but owner pilots are not welcome there. In addition our shared ownership is more cost-effective," he says.

"I believe this is the first scheme of its type for the Eclipse 500. A share will cost less than owning a Ferrari or a Bentley and it will not be much more to run on fuel as the Eclipse is the greenest jet in the world."