PhilJets plots expansion plans, sees growth doubling this year

MANILA, Philippines — Fast-rising business aviation startup PhilJets plans to play a bigger role in the region as it maps out an aggressive expansion program expected to double its growth this year.

The firm has also been working on upgrading its license capability from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines to evolve from non-scheduled domestic to non-scheduled international, a necessity when entering the jet market.

Last year, PhilJets started its entry into the business jet segment, adding one Cessna Citation XLS+ to its fleet and ended 2017 with the addition of one more Cessna Citation Business Jet.

The business aviation operator said it aims to continue adding more aircraft to its expanding fleet to cater to its growing customers base, both local and international.

PhilJets has surpassed its target sales revenues of P160 million by reaching close to P200 million in sales, though costs were also significantly higher due to trainings recurrencies, overhead costs increase, maintenance costs increase and operations costs increase.

From six aircraft in 2016 to 11 under its management by end-2017, the assets value under the portfolio of PhilJets increased to more than P3.8 billion, which is nearly a four-fold increase from the previous year. The latest addition to the fleet are two helicopters (Bell 407 GX and Airbus H145) and three fixed-wing aircraft (one Bombardier Challenger 350, two Cessna Citation XLS+).

PhilJets is looking forward to adding up to five aircraft into the fleet that will exceed P4.5 billion in asset value under management this year in order to increase its capacity to better serve its customers at the different segments of the market.

“We need both lighter single engine and lighter twin-engine helicopter in our fleet, as well as a good twin-engine turboprop fixed wing.” These are our main objectives for this year,” said Choy Elciario, in charge of the charter activities of PhilJets.

As five new pilots, with an average 25 years of flying experience, have joined the company in 2017, the aviation startup now has reached more than 60 high skilled employees.

In 2018, PhilJets is preparing to launch more projects and will venture into new partnerships. The company is also looking into expanding in the education, logistics and tourism sectors, aimimg to open bases in the provinces.

“It is very challenging to manage growth for a startup in aviation, we are looking at innovating opportunities and the best way to develop them while always keeping safety and customer service as our core priorities. Our team is really exceptional despite the many obstacles and everyday issues. We are happy to demonstrate that we positively embrace the steady growth of the Philippines economy and contribute to play our humble part in the development of the business aviation and tourism sector,” PhilJets chairman Thierry Tea said.