JetBird gets €10m in private funding

JetBird, an Irish company planning a private jet service in Europe, said it sold €10 million of share capital to an unidentified Middle Eastern investor, boosting the startup’s value to more than €100m.

The Dublin-based company also said it received a loan from Royal Bank of Scotland Group to cover initial payments for 25 Phenom 100 aircraft from Embraer, or Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica. The jet service will begin operating in 2009 and aims to have a fleet of 100 aircraft by 2013.

The investment “demonstrates the attractiveness of JetBird’s business model, strategy and prospects”, chairman Domhnal Slattery said.

The investor is a “family-owned group” with global investments in banking, manufacturing, hotels and other businesses, JetBird said.