SaxonAir Introduces New Managed Jet Fleet At Biggin Hill

Credit: Angus Batey

SaxonAir, based in Norwich, England, had almost given up on fixed-wing charter operations under the twin pressures of COVID travel restrictions and post-Brexit issues and the difficulties obtaining permits to fly in to and out of Europe. “There was a point where I said, ‘If this isn’t working by autumn, I’ll close it,’” says SaxonAir CEO Alex Durand, who also serves as deputy chair of the British Business and General Aviation Association. Today, SaxonAir has taken over Sovereign Business Jets’ operational role at the London Biggin Hill Airport and will fly three aircraft from the London airport. Sovereign, meanwhile, will move fully into aircraft sales.

Credit: Mike Rivett/SaxonAir

Under the partnership with Sovereign, Saxon Air will provide the operational use, which helps make a persuasive case to potential owners, officials say. This Cessna Citation CJ1 (G-COBN) was sold in August “to a UK buyer who wanted management, and that works perfectly,” says SaxonAir CEO Alex Durand. The aircraft was kept busy: during the last week of January. It was seen in Belfast, Manchester and Castletown on the Isle of Man and departed Biggin Hill on Feb. 3 for Nice, France.

Credit: Angus Batey

SaxonAir leases this Embraer Phenom 300 (G-KRBN), which, CEO Alex Durand says, is exhibiting the kind of utilization typical of aircraft the company operates. “That did quite a lot of work around the UK last year,” he says, “but it’s probably going to be going more into Europe as we move forward. I suspect a lot of the flying is leisure, because I don’t think business travel has come back up yet.”

Credit: Angus Batey

G-KRBN, an Embraer Phenom 300 registered in 2016, comes with the Prodigy Touch avionics suite. Based on the Garmin G3000, the system has larger displays and utilizes touchscreen functionality.

Credit: Angus Batey

Two of three Bombardier Learjets operated by SaxonAir are based at Biggin Hill. In the foreground is G-USHA, a Learjet 75 owned by Isle of Man-based Aperta Aviation. In the background, is a Learjet 45 registered to a private owner.

Credit: Mike Rivett / SaxonAir

Pictured by the door of G-USHA, a Learjet 75, is Lindsey Oliver, managing director of the British Business and General Aviation Association (BBGA). SaxonAir CEO Alex Durand is the association’s vice chair. SaxonAir’s Biggin Hill event included a session for media, where he, Oliver and BBGA Chairperson Aoife O’Sullivan spoke. Among the topics discussed was sustainability and how the sector’s post-COVID bounceback will only increase the focus on this area. “The pandemic and Brexit, but particularly the pandemic, has introduced an extraordinarily large number of new users to our industry--people who’ve never considered business aviation before,” Oliver says. “And who are they? They’re younger people. And a constant on their conversation list is talking about sustainability.”

Credit: Mike Rivett/SaxonAir

As if to emphasize the point made by the BBGA, and also underscoring the nature of a fast-moving and responsive operation, Embraer Phenom 300 G-KRBN was towed out of the hangar during the Feb. 1st event at London Biggin Hill Airport ahead of a flight to Bremen, Germany, for which it received a load of sustainable aviation fuel. Biggin Hill has had SAF available since March last year, through its supplier, Air BP. The fuel is a blend of around 35% SAF and the remainder traditional fuel, with the SAF component derived from waste products, such as cooking oil. The Biggin Hill airport has committed to becoming carbon-neutral by 2029.