Business aviation services group Mac Air is set to launch a new niche fractional ownership program called QJet Shares later this month. The Maine-based company is offering shares in six Hawker 1000s with an initial focus on providing flights between the northeastern U.S. and south Florida.
Six shares, priced at $800,000, will be offered for each of the pre-owned aircraft, which were produced in the mid-1990s. Monthly management fees for a five-year agreement have been set at $13,500, with an occupied flight hour rate of $2,850, which Mac Air says will equate to an all-inclusive hourly rate of $6,283 on the assumption that owners fly approximately 100 hours per year.
“A similar aircraft [in terms of size and range] in one of the larger fractional ownership programs would have an hourly rate of around $10,709,” said Pat Reed, who recently joined Mac Air to run QJet Shares. Owners will also be offered the chance to share in revenues raised when the aircraft are made available to third-party customers for charter. They can also opt to share trips with other owners to reduce their hourly costs.
The Hawker 1000s have been refurbished by Flying Colours of Canada with cabins that seat up to nine passengers. “You wouldn’t know if these are 10 years old or 10 days old; they have all the amenities, including Wi-Fi,” Reed told AIN.
QJet owners will be asked to give 24 hours' notice for trips, except during peak periods when at least seven days' notice will be required. They will have the option to pay more to interchange with other larger aircraft operated for charter by Mac Air, such as the Bombardier Challenger 850.
The first Hawker 1000 is due to join the fleet by mid-August, and this is being offered at preferential rates. The aircraft will be based at Mac Air’s headquarters in Portland, Maine, with the second aircraft likely to be positioned at an airport in south Florida. The jets will also be available for flights elsewher in the continental U.S., with some repositioning fees and overnight charges applying.
Customers will have the following three financing options: putting $200,000 down as a deposit and paying the remainder on closing; paying all costs up front; or taking advantage of a liquidity program offered by the UBS bank, through which clients borrow against the value of asssts such as fine wines, art works, cars and yachts at low interest rates.
The QJet Shares program might subsequently be expanded to offer other pre-owned aircraft, according to Reed, who was formerly with Magellan Jets and PlaneSense. In addition to aircraft management, charter and leasing, Mac Air Group operates an FBO and provides maintenance, parts support and avionics modifications.
