According to Eurocontrol, by 2010, European operators will have ordered some 500 very light jets (VLJs) and about 300 of these will have been delivered by then, with most of them being destined for air-taxi services. The agency’s initial assessment indicates this new generation of business jets will have a significant impact on Europe’s airspace and Eurocontrol is studying the case for mandating TCAS II traffic alert and collision avoidance systems for all VLJs.
The agency’s Trends in Air Traffic study of business aviation, released in May 2006, estimated that by 2015 the number of business jets (including VLJs) in Europe would be 500 to 1,500 greater than it was in 2004. More recent projections, however, see just over 500 VLJs in Europe by 2010. Cessna has already started delivering its new Citation Mustang on this side of the Atlantic and at least 14 are already in service (registered in Germany, the UK, Austria, Spain, Denmark, Netherlands, plus several U.S.-registered aircraft based in the UK).
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