Finesse Executive of the UK has gained a worldwide AOC and is to offer its Falcon 900 for charter from its London Stansted base. “The granting of our AOC marks the culmination of months of hard work, and we are all excited to be starting this new chapter,” says commercial manager Stephen Finch. “Our Falcon 900 is fully available for charter and has recently received a stylish black and silver paint scheme; it really stands out from the crowd.” Finch and his team have benefitted from a close working relationship with Flightworx, which has provided 24/7 flight operations support without the set-up costs associated with a full in-house ops team.

Finesse is in the process of adding a privately managed Global Express to the AOC as well, with further Dassault and Bombardier types to follow.

Finch says the company is determined to set realistic targets: “We don't want to take over the world. We want to be a boutique, niche operator, which gives the owners of the aircraft the highest quality service.

“It is very easy in this business to become lost in big thinking. We want to keep things small and would love to have six to eight jets on board in the long run. In the short term we have our first aircraft on the AOC. Two more aircraft are expected in the next couple of months and then a further one within six months. We are in discussions to bring that number up to perhaps six within the year.”

The anticipated Global Express is likely to be based in the Middle East, and a Falcon 900EX is also expected in a central European city such as Vienna.

“As we continue to grow we will be bringing more and more resources onboard,” Finch continues, “but we wish to keep our costs low as any small company should. We've seen an awful lot of companies conduct big launches and fail just as quickly as they've launched due to over-expansion.”

The transatlantic market is one which the company will be hoping to break into in the medium term, in light of the three-engine capabilities of the Falcons. Finch also sees growth markets in Kazakhstan and the Middle East as strong targets. “We are looking to Moscow too. This is clearly a huge market, but we feel that it is an achievable one,” he concludes.