Private jet travel in Pittsburgh is on the rise.
Pittsburgh-based Voyager Jet Center, with operations at Allegheny County Airport in West Mifflin, has added five new aircraft to its fleet and reports that aircraft charter customers have risen dramatically, doubling in the last year.
Another boon to business is Voyager’s service as a 24-hour fueling station for the private plane industry. Allegheny County Airport has become the private aviation hub of western, PA, reports Rich Ryan, president. Voyager has experienced a 26 percent increase in year-over-year fuel sales as a full service, fixed-based operator of fuel for private business jets.
With commercial airlines and cutting back on flights and service locally, private air flight is catching on, Ryan says.
“If you fill the airplane and account for savings in travel time and expenses, it’s a reasonable proposition to fly a private jet,” explains Ryan. “We’re more expensive than the commercial airlines, but if a senior employee can accomplish more work in one day, you’ve added a lot of value to the experience.”
Since 2005 the company has grown from 26 employees to 62 today. Last year Voyager completed the first phase of a $19.6 million expansion product. (For the Pop City story, click here.) Voyager is waiting on plans to construct a new, 50,000 square foot fixed base operator facility and recently opened a new facility in Naples, Florida.
“Flights will be less frequent in cities that don’t have much traffic, which makes our product more viable,” says Ryan. “We have a dedicated group of employees, that’s the reason why we’re a success.”
Writer: Debra Smit
Source: Rich Ryan, Voyager Jet Center
Image courtesy Voyager Jet