New charter operator Icejet, which plans to have a fleet of three refurbished Dornier 328s operating by this spring, is being run by an entrepreneur who helped found the Citystar airline when jobs for pilots were scarce in Iceland.

Jon Ingi Jonsson, md and director of flight operations, says that Nordic Partners, which owns Icejet and five Dornier 328 Jet Envoys, is servicing vips and celebrities.

Icejet, he says, is a pioneer in the refurbishment of Do328 Jets into vip aircraft. "It is the perfect aircraft for the European, executive, leisure and corporate market. We have launched as a charter operator in Iceland with one Dornier but are growing our intercontinental business. Our flagship was delivered to us new in March last year. This aircraft has the extended range tanks which give it around 2,000 mile range. Out of Iceland Icejet has flown to places including Svalbard, north of Norway, the Canary Islands in the south, Russia in the east and Canada in the west."

"The Dornier has a cabin size which is almost identical to the larger executive aircraft, a good range and plenty of storage."

The luggage space was more than adequate for Il Divo, four tenors who achieved fame after being brought together by TV personality Simon Cowell. Il Divo chartered the 328 for a lengthy tour.

Jonsson, one of the founders of Citystar Airline, says that Icejet will exploit charter opportunities as corporate Iceland grows business links abroad and exclusive leisure trips to Iceland, already extremely popular, increase.

Citystar was founded in 2003 when jobs as pilots in Iceland with scheduled airlines were hard to come by and it started operations in March 2005. But then in the summer of 2006 Jonsson was offered, and accepted, the job of launching a executive charter company based in Reykjavik.

Jonsson became fascinated with aircraft as a boy when he grew up near an American airbase at Keflavik Airport. His career began as a check-in clerk with Icelandair at Keflavik. "There was never a job available as a pilot with Icelandair and that's why I and others founded our own airline.

"The European market will see a lot more of the Do328 Jets in the near future. They are back and they are here to stay!"