Business air charter operators are always looking for ways to attract new customers and fly more hours, of course. In recent years this has included using the internet to advertise the availability of empty legs, and so either make the one-way charter more affordable for the customer or increase the operator's revenue. This is all about avoiding flying around with an empty cabin.

Many operators will now be watching closely as a new internet business attempts to take this one stage further, by selling empty seats on booked charter flights.

The Victor web site (www.flyVictor.com) has initially identified a route that attracts a high level of charter activity, between the UK and Palma, and aimed to recruit members using this route and charter companies well placed to service it. The aim will be to build a critical mass of members who are regular users on lots of different routes over time.

Members booking a charter through the web site can then choose whether to retain sole occupancy of their flight, or to open up unused seats to other members in order to offset some of the costs (Victor keeps 30 per cent).

In order to sell those spare seats Victor has obtained an ATOL (air travel organiser's licence) from the UK CAA, and holds interim payments received in a client deposit account.

Membership is free, with no formal vetting, and now numbers more than 350. At launch in August these members had access to 120 aircraft through 22 operators, about 70 flights had been booked and around a third of these offered spare seat availability.

Operators who have received bookings through the system already are obviously enthusiastic, but will the concept prove popular enough to ensure its long-term success?

Detractors might argue that one of the key advantages of the private charter is privacy, and so the ability to sell empty seats might not appeal to enough customers. Film director Michael Winner on the UK television programme 'Grumpy Old Holidays' recoiled in horror at the thought of sharing his charter flight from Northolt to Malaga.

On the other hand, passengers who have experienced business aviation through a modest investment in someone else's flight, might enjoy the convenience so much that they become a new generation of charter customers in their own right. Time will tell. David Wright Managing editor