Hong Kong charter brokerage L'Voyage is embarking on a strategic expansion with a new shareholder and CEO, Jolie Howard. With over 20 years of joint vision and experience between founder Diana Chou and now shareholder and CEO Howard, L'Voyage is looking to leverage its local roots, homegrown talent and continuity of understanding of the Asia market to catalyse and lead the industry's new post-COVID market.

“As the homegrown seeds of the Asian business aviation industry, both Diana and I have helped forge the industry's tremendous growth over the years,” says Howard. “Compared with some of the foreign or overseas players that have come and gone over the last two decades, we have had the privilege to stay and nurture the industry, and encourage local market development all this time. In this new, post-COVID market that the industry is now entering, we are well-positioned to serve the influx of new buyers and customers who are considering and utilising business jets as their new private travel method of choice. We are also investing in new technologies, including proprietary software solutions that would augment our services so that we can lead in providing safe, transparent, legal and sound charter services, as all business aviation services should be. I look forward to continuing the expansion of L'Voyage in redefining the industry.”

Jolie Howard had previously been the CEO for TAG Aviation Asia since 2016, and has been in the business and general aviation industry in Asia for over 20 years, specialising in advising business aircraft owners in the Asia Pacific region on operations, charter, costing, flight planning and international registration. She served as VP at CIT's business aviation leasing unit and was formerly also director of business development in TAG Aviation Asia for over seven years. She is known in the industry as being TAG Aviation Asia's founding employee.

In 2013, industry pioneer Diana Chou founded L'Voyage to utilise owners' business aircraft that were not being fully put to use. Recognised as ‘Best Charter Broker’ at AsBAA's Icons of Aviation 2017 Awards by vote of its members, L'Voyage is the first Wyvern-accredited charter broker in Asia. Its separate licensed travel agent brand, L'Voyage Travel, which sells commercial airline tickets, hotel reservations, bespoke tailored travel itineraries and ground transportation services among others, will also be merged with L'Voyage to create a turn-key bespoke curator of unforgettable journeys for its clients.

“This strategic union and expansion augments the company's strength and growth in scaling the business to the next evolution. As partners, both Jolie and I have seen and built the industry firsthand through our mutual long term confidence in the market. Jolie's corporate expertise and experience complement and enhance the fundamentally bespoke and boutique elements of L'Voyage. With every crisis comes opportunity, and L'Voyage as a homegrown is poised to lead and transform the industry in the post-COVID environment,” says Chou.

Additionally, the L'Voyage team has been boosted by its newest director of sales and marketing, Christy Lau. Lau was previously general manager (sales and marketing) at Blu Inc Media, Asia's leading integrated luxury lifestyle media company under media giant Singapore Press Holdings. A veteran in the luxury lifestyle industry, she brings over 15 years of luxury media sales and marketing experience to L'Voyage.