GlobeAir of Linz, Austria, has announced a sales record for the third quarter in 2014, along with a 10 per cent growth in passenger flights.

According to WINGX, the private jet sector in Europe has continued to lose activity overall during the past few months. Although several aircraft segments are facing a turbulent period, Mustang demand has shown a noticeable gain, which reached its peak in September and gained 14 per cent year on year.

As the operator of the world's largest fleet of Mustangs, GlobeAir is claiming €5.1 million net sales in Q3, and has achieved close to 35 per cent market share in the vlj segment. A growing demand for small cabin aircraft has bolstered GlobeAir's presence in western and southern Europe, with more than 1,030 flights carried out between July and September.

The company has strengthened its presence not only in exclusive summer destinations such as the Cote d'Azur and Sardinia, but also in the busiest city hubs such as Geneva, Paris and London.

It has also completed the acquisition of five aircraft, leased since 2011 from Irish leasing company Star Fly. This grants GlobeAir sole control over its fleet.

Says ceo Bernhard Fragner: “The decision to position ourselves in the light jet market has proved to be a successful strategy, in light of the general charter downturn. Since 2007, when GlobeAir was founded, we have been focused on operating a homog-enous fleet of Citation Mustangs to generate economies of scale.”