Since mid-September, a French operator has been flying the first Embraer ERJ-135 dedicated to charter in Europe. The Chambéry-based firm feels it has filled a gap in charter capacity. The twinjet, registered F-GYPE, is operated by Hex’Air, a small airline whose sister company, executive charter operator Pan Européenne Air Service, markets it alongside its own business aircraft.
“We have had three types of customers since entry into service,” Gilles Dubois, Pan Européenne’s sales director, told AIN. Sports teams and business-related trips by company teams and prospective clients account for most flights. Business trips have also included carrying journalists to product launches. Airlines are the third category of customer. They employ F-GYPE for ad hoc fleet replacement purposes. However, airline demand has fallen sharply since September 11–the only part of the company’s business to have been negatively affected, according to Dubois.
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