Camarillo, California-headquartered Part 135 Sun Air Jets has added a 14-passenger Gulfstream G550 and a 12-passenger Global Express to its charter fleet. These aircraft will further expand Sun Air Jets' large cabin, long-range roster with two sophisticated, efficient and comfortable aircraft that are well-suited for travelling across the US or internationally. With complimentary domestic wi-fi, large cabin monitors, numerous personal monitors and full galleys on board, these aircraft will make clients’ private jet travel more luxurious.

“The impressive cabins, the elegant comfort and most of all the superior quality of these aircraft offer our customers a wonderful, best in-class transportation experience,” states Brian Counsil, Sun Air Jets president and COO.

“Bombardier, as always, builds an aircraft that is not only customer friendly, but also maintenance friendly,” adds Rob Cox, Sun Air's VP and director of maintenance. “And, the proven design concepts and the quality of the Gulfstream product line ensure a dispatch rate that will meet or beat any comparable aircraft.”

Director of business development Mary Brehm says: “Like a lot of private charter carriers, we have been ​extremely busy. We have been growing as quickly as we can to accommodate. We have the Gulfstream and Bombardier jets that recently joined the fleet and we have two more aircraft on the way. We are working diligently to get our organisation even better suited to handle the demand that is out there. We are quite focused on domestic travel at the moment. We are not flying as much to Europe; clients are a little bit gun-shy about the constantly evolving COVID restrictions and don’t want to get stuck. Predominantly, our clients are traveling to Mexico, to the Bahamas and other places that are a little bit closer. We are seeing quite a bit of travel to Hawaii. People want to travel, they are excited to go, but they are a little bit wary of the COVID precautions internationally and having them change unexpectedly. They are going to all the destination spots that they can get to easily. Mexico is by far the most popular at the moment.

“There has definitely been a boom post-COVID. People have not been travelling and they are excited to finally be able to do so. We’ve definitely seen a huge uptick in the industry from that. I also think this is the new way that things are going to be. People are realising that if they can travel, they should travel. They’ve had enough downtime to help them realise that life is just too short and they don’t want to waste another minute. I believe that attitude is something that is going to stick around with us for a while.”

Sun Air Jets has a mix of clients from all over and from the east coast as well as from California. A lot of businesses and industry executives travel for business regularly, so they may be going from Los Angeles to New York every other week, or back and forth to multiple offices where they are having regular meetings.

“We are seeing a lot of business travel, and the entertainment industry is finally getting up and running,” continues Brehm. “We have clients getting back into their productions and filming. Larger corporations are starting to travel more regularly for meetings. People are tired of the Zoom meetings and are ready for some face-to-face. Additionally, families are seeking some leisure activities and some downtime. We have a lot of new and exciting changes coming down the pipeline. We are expecting two new aircraft to be added to our charter certificate in the coming months – a Hawker 900 and an Embraer Lineage. The Lineage is a stunning jet for the international market. It’s so fully-equipped and so large that it will serve the entertainment industry well. We expect it to be a very popular aircraft.”

The company is about to be listed as one of the first certified Green FBOs in the US with a new programme that NATA is implementing, and it has just rolled out a new Carbon Offset programme. “We have a new Director of Operations, Ed Fares, who just came on board,” Brehm concludes. “Sun Air Jets is growing and the timing couldn't be better to accommodate a busier market.”