Irish private jet firm launches online booking system in first for industry

IRISH private jet firm JetBird launched its online booking system yesterday – the first of its kind for the industry.

Despite the tough operating conditions for airlines, the Dublin-based firm, which is the brainchild of Claret Capital’s Domhnal Slattery, is on track to launch its services this September.

The company will offer passengers the use of a private jet between a network of European airports.

Jetbird chief information officer, Darrell McCrone, said the online system will allow Jetbird to operate a low-cost, pay-as-you-fly model minimising fuel burn and environmental impact.

It is headed by former Sterling chief operating officer Stefan Vilner.

The test site allows potential passengers to price flights and represents the first phase of the launch of the online flight booking system ahead of its full commercial takeoff in September.

The company said although most scheduled commercial airlines offer an internet based, real-time booking service, no existing European private jet operators provide such a service.

Jetbird said its online booking system was developed in conjunction with Coastal Aviation Software (CAS), a technology provider to the aviation market.

Mr Vilner said: “Jetbird is thrilled to unveil the first phase of our revolutionary flight booking system which will ensure ease of booking for our customers. In addition, the system can scale effortlessly as the Jetbird operation expands to 100 aircraft over the next five years.”

CAS chief executive and founder, Richard Kane said that from the beginning, it saw “great promise” in the Jetbird business model.

“With a proven management team and a clear strategy, we were excited to work with Jetbird in supporting their launch in Europe and bring a true low-cost private jet airline to the European market,” he said.