The economic downturn brought a much needed reality check to parts of the business aviation industry that were becoming seriously unsustainable, according to ExecuJet Aviation CEO Niall Olver. In a characteristically candid interview with AIN ahead of this week’s EBACE event, Olver argued that the silver lining behind the slowly clearing clouds of recession has been that the financial crisis “cleared out the lunatic fringe” that had been pursuing “business models with no basis in reality.”
Last year saw ExecuJet making adjustments to the scale of its aircraft charter, management, sales and handling activities to weather the downturn. Olver sees a gradual recovery continuing this year but he still feels that the market remains “corrupted” by unhealthy competition and the fact that a lasting recovery in demand is still being seriously impeded by a lack of financial liquidity. “The mooted recovery in financial markets has not brought aviation back as readily as expected but we do see the market growing slowly and steadily,” he said.
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