VallJet : airline

VallJet is a French airline founded in 2008 by 3 employees. Based in Paris le Bourget, the airline has a fleet of around thirty private jets. A pioneer in business aviation, VallJet offers a wide range of national and international routes.

A brief history of VallJet

2008: The private flight airline VallJet was born. It was founded by 3 industrialists, including Jean Valli, the company’s current CEO, and set up in Paris – Le Bourget, which happens to be Europe’s leading business airport. The ambition of these 3 employees was to makebusiness aviation more accessible to companies wishing to move forward quickly and productively. For almost ten years, the company operated in the business aviation market with 5 private jets.

“We have to convince entrepreneurs that small-jet private aviation is not a luxury product,” explains Jean Valli.

2018: VallJet diversifies its own fleet but also starts to operate private business jets. VallJet helps its clients with their purchase and looks after their aircraft when the owner does not. There’s something in it for everyone. By this time, the airline had almost 28 aircraft in its fleet.
This was also the year that VallJet acquired the R&O workshop based at Le Bourget. This is a maintenance workshop, approved and recognised in the civil aviation sector.
2020: As with other airlines, the health crisis has had an impact on VallJet’s business. However, while aeronautical activity is down for regular entrepreneurial flights, it is up considerably for medical flights and medical repatriations.

aile avion dans les nuages — Photo credit: Unsplash

The activities of the French airline

Airline carrier

With 190 airports served in 92 different countries, VallJet has established its reputation and become France’s leading business aviation company, with a good number of passengers. While the health crisis has affected the air transport sector in general, business aviation (like the air force) has fared well. VallJet was all the more requisitioned for regular air missions such as medical repatriations. And the figures speak for themselves: in 2019, the company will have a turnover of 30 million, rising to 46 million the following year.
Today, its main activity as an air carrier is for companies, group transport (thanks to the chartering of larger aircraft) but also freight and medical flights.

Training courses

VallJet also offers training for apprentice pilots. They train on their own aircraft and then acquire a QT (type rating), enabling them to fly many hours and pilot these special private jets. The training also extends to stewardesses and stewarts.

Empty flights

With Paris – Le Bourget as its main landing base, VallJet also bases its aircraft in other French cities such as Nice, Valence, Lyon and Lille. Its fleet of business jets covers all these cities. However, the company also offers and updates daily empty flights. These are journeys made by private jets to return to their home base or to another destination to pick up passengers. These journeys contain no passengers, which is why they are called empty flights. In Europe, this accounts for 40% of business jet flights. In order to make these flights profitable, they are offered to passengers wishing to take advantage of them at a lower cost, as they are discounted. The disadvantages for travellers are that they have to agree on the times, the type of aircraft and the destinations for the flight. There is very little flexibility.

VallJet’s varied fleet

VallJet’s strategy is to offer a range of aircraft models to best adapt to the various demands of its customers and to increase the availability of their aircraft.
The fleet of some thirty aircraft is divided into 4 groups:

Light jets

VallJet’s fleet of light jets includes 14 aircraft from the same manufacturer, Cessna. Accommodating between 5 and 7 passengers, these jets are ideal for short journeys of around 2,000 km.

Citation CJ3
Citation CJ2+
Citation CJ2 (2 models)
Citation II (4 models)
Citation M2
Citation CJ / CJ1 (5 models)

JET PRIVÉ CITATION CJ3 AEROAFFAIRES — Photo credit: Cessna – Textron Aviation

Midsize jets

6 midsize jets complete the fleet. They seat up to 8 passengers and are suitable for medium-haul routes of around 4,000 km. These jets are assembled by Beechcraft.

Hawker 900 XP (4 models)
Hawker 800 XP (2 models)

Heavy jets

Let’s move on to the range of long-haul business jets. The airline has 4 of these, made by Brazilian manufacturer Embraer. These aircraft can cover a distance of around 6,000 km with 13 passengers on board.

Legacy 650
Legacy 600 (3 models)

Airliners

Finally, in the airliners category, the company has the same twin-engine models built by Embraer. They are powered by Rolls-Royce AE 3007 turbojet engines. These aircraft can cover a distance of more than 2,000 km with 50 passengers. The ideal aircraft for group flights.

Embraer 145 (4 models)

What else you need to know about VallJet

Formalities

chien assis sur le tarmac — Photo credit: Unsplash

As with all other airlines, you will need a number of documents to be able to board. The first is a valid identity document such as an ID card or passport. Next, you’ll need your ticket and boarding pass in order to travel. Finally, if the conditions require it depending on the type of your trip, you may have to provide your health papers.
If you are travelling with a pet, VallJet accepts them without any problems. However, you will need to notify VallJet of this, and you will probably be asked to provide additional documents (such as vaccination records) before your pet can travel.

As far as baggage is concerned, as you saw above, the airline’s fleet is made up of different aircraft. Depending on your route and the business jet you choose, the policy for hand baggage and hold baggage will differ. You will be informed accordingly, of course.

A VallJet frequent flyer programme

“Club Cards were created with and for our customers, to offer them even more flexibility and added value.”

Explains J.Valli, CEO of VallJet.

The French airline offers its own loyalty service with Club Cards. There are 4 of them on offer, offering preferential fares and various benefits to their holders. You pay an annual or monthly fee (which varies according to the card) and then have access to all VallJet’s services.

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