Travel's Eveline Harvey took a flight to Waiheke Island's Mudbrick Vineyard & Restaurant with North Shore-based Heletranz, one of a number of great daytrip packages the company offers.
The husband and wife team that built up Heletranz has set up a new operation to meet growing demand for private jet travel.
Sofia and John Ambler have set up NZ Jet - a Covid-19 lockdown project during the last two years- to service the domestic market with aircraft capableof flying non-stop to cities on Australia’s east coast and Fiji.
The company has two Cessna Citation Ultra aircraft, capable of carrying up to eight passengers on shorter flights.
“We identified a gap in the market for a price-competitive jet that carries up to eight people servicing smaller airports not currently operated directly by larger airlines,” said Sofia Ambler.
One of the two Citation Ultra aircraft bought from Japan is currently undergoing an avionics and interior upgrade but the other plane was operating. The firm had not promoted heavily but there was already strong demand for flights.
Clients enjoyed the flexibility of not being bound by airline schedules or hit by cancelled flights, and can avoid queues in airports and have more personal space during their journey, reflecting trends overseas where there has been a boom in executive jet travel.
“They want a seamless door-to-door service and that’s where these come in really handy,” said Ambler.
The firm is based at Ardmore but can fly out of Air Center One’s base at Auckland Airport. It has two dedicated pilots and a pool of others.
John and Sofia Ambler of NZ Jet Ltd with a Cessna Citation Ultra aircraft. Photo / Supplied
The aircraft are able to land at airports with short runways, so for international clients it can get them to luxury lodges like The Landing or Kauri Cliffs in the Bay of Islands, Huka Lodge in Taupo and Cape Kidnappers near Napier, as well as attractions in the Wanaka/Queenstown region.
For domestic passengers, NZ Jet had operated to many domestic airports including Tauranga, Westport and Wanaka but the most common destination would still be Queenstown.
“It is a mix of private and corporate use, but ultimately we don’t ask for the reason of travel, our job is to deliver exceptional customer service and a smooth and safe door-to-door experience,” said Ambler.
She said planning, and then getting the operation running, took close to two years.
“There is a lot of training and regulatory work.”
Around the world, demand for private air travel is booming.
This week a leading broker, Air Charter Service, reported record half-year revenue of more than NZ$1.2b.
“The strong resurgence of the private jet market across the globe continues and revenue is not only up 56 per cent on last year, which was driven in part by the return of long-haul private jet travel, but also still nearly 25 per cent above the pre-pandemic levels of 2019,” the firm said.
French maker of Falcon jets, Dassault, says that for the first half of this year demand has been robust.
“In the first half of 2022, we took 41 Falcon net orders, versus 25 in the same period in 2021, despite the cancellation of Russian orders.”
The Amblers rapidly built up Heletranz when they bought it in 2012 from a fleet of two helicopters to 14.
John Ambler is a former Cathay Pacific captain flying Boeing 747s, and is also an experienced helicopter pilot. In New Zealand he started flying private jets, from the Bombardier Global 6000 to lighter jets like the Citation Ultra.
Early in 2020 Heletranz merged with another helicopter company, Inflite, but retained a 25 per cent stake.
