Marine Eugene on private jets | NetJets | Video

European CEO interviews Marine Eugene, Sales Director of NetJets Europe, on NetJet's model of fractional ownership for private aircraft

Transcript

Take the advantages of your own private jet without the hassle and expensive maintenance. That’s the foundation of the NetJets model of fractional ownership. Marine Eurgene, Sales Director of NetJets Europe, discusses the benefits of the fractional ownership model, acquiring the new Phenom 300 jet to stay ahead of NetJets’ competition, and how eastern Europe is now catching up with more mature private jet markets in the west.

European CEO: How does the fractional ownership model work?

Marine Eugene: If you’re going to be using an aircraft once a week, for example, and need to fly to a multitude of destinations – we fly to nearly 5,000 airports in the world – buying your own aircraft would simply not make any sense. You would have to put 100 percent of the capital on the table, under-utilise your asset.

On average, aircraft only fly about 20 percent of their full capacity. What we offer at NetJets is to buy only the time that you need, and to pay only the time that you actually use.

On average, aircraft only fly 20 percent of their full capacity. At NetJets you only pay for the time that you actually use

European CEO: Although NetJets was the founder of the concept, other companies have spun from the manufacturers. So how do you stay ahead of the game?

Marine Eugene: By being independent. By constantly thinking ahead: what is it that our clients are looking for? We are 100 percent backed by Berkshire Hathaway, so it gives us tremendous financial capacities, and we work with every manufacturer.

We listen to what our customer wants, the new Phenom 300 is part of our new signature series order. We placed in the last two years $17.6bn worth of aircraft orders, and that’s exactly how you stay ahead of the game. By investing in your programme, and listening to what your clients want.

European CEO: How is the aviation industry performing in Europe, following the financial crisis?

Marine Eugene: Things went down obviously, in 2009 and 2010. We had a slight recovery earlier in 2011, and then obviously, in the midst of the euro crisis in the summer of 2011 we saw a decrease of activity again. Things have been pretty stable since then; we’re seeing pockets of growth in new territories, like Russia, Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Ukraine, Turkey. There is still a very growing market. Obviously it’s not a very uniform picture, so in Southern Europe you still see tremendous challenges, whereas the UK is actually starting to pick up again in terms of activities.

Clients have experienced the trouble of owning their own aircraft, and we come in with a very compelling offer

European CEO: Where is fractional ownership growing in popularity, and how do you see the industry developing?

Marine Eugene: We see tremendous growth at the moment in the aviation market in Turkey, Russia… these are customers who are buying brand new aircraft and didn’t really have an experience of flying privately, on demand, like you had in core mature markets like the UK, France and Germany. So this is a tremendous opportunity for NetJets, because now those potential clients have experienced the trouble of owning their own aircraft, we come in, in a more mature market, with a very compelling offer.

European CEO: Marine, thank you.

Marine Eugene: Thank you very much.