Flexjet International managing director Raymond Jones and Nextant Aerospace executive vice president Jay Heublein sealed an agreement on Tuesday here at EBACE for the latter company to upgrade eight of Flexjet’s 21 Nextant 400XTi remanufactured light jets.
The aircraft are being updated to meet European mandates. Nextant will also refresh the cabins and repaint the exteriors, before the aircraft are moved from the U.S. to Europe to support Flexjet’s expansion into the Old Continent. Flexjet and Nextant are sister companies under parent Directional Aviation.
On Sunday, U.S.-based Flexjet announced it would start on-demand and membership charter services in Europe with eight 400 XTis later this year, after it finalizes a deal to acquire an existing operator with an air operator certificate (AOC) in the region. Because these light jets will be based in Europe, Nextant will upgrade their avionics to include TCAS 7.1, enhanced flight ID and ADS-B out, which are all required under EASA regulations.
At the same time, Nextant will reconfigure the cabins with a three-place divan and club-four seating. On the outside, the airplanes will be painted with a new livery designed for Flexjet International, the new name for the company’s non-North American operations.
Nextant will start cycling Flexjet’s Europe-bound 400XTis through its Cleveland (Ohio) Cuyahoga County Airport base next month, with the first two aircraft set to arrive at their London base in the fourth quarter. After that, the next two modified aircraft will be flown to a base in Paris, with the remainder to be based at to-be-determined cities in central or eastern Europe.