The Company intends to use this first acquisition to create a fractional ownership scheme for private airline flyers, enabling more access for more people into the private jet market.
    The Eclipse is one of a new generation of aircraft designated "Very Light Jets" (VLJs) offering an economical alternative to private flying. The Eclipse manufacturer, Eclipse Aviation, has sold two years worth of production and is forecasting to sell over 1,000 aircraft per year as
demand increases. The Eclipse aircraft received Full 'Type' Certification from the Federal Aviation Administration in the US two weeks ago. One Charter has moved quickly to secure a slot for the Eclipse due to high demand.
    One Charter intends to divide the Eclipse into 10 fractions of GBP100,000 each. Potential fraction owners will be able to secure their one-tenth for a deposit of GBP10,000 as of today.
    Each fraction will allow an owner 60 hours per year at an envisaged price of GBP800 per hour depending on the economic conditions at the time of delivery. With an expected flying time of under two hours from Farnborough to Nice, this will represent a cost of around GBP1,600 for the one way flight on the 4 seat aircraft, with two pilots. This compares to today's published commercial return flight to Nice of GBP850 return including taxes and two hour wait at either end. One Charter will provide an intranet service for owners so they can utilise a bespoke online booking system to view when the aircraft is available. In addition, the fractional owners will be able to trade their own hours and availability with the other nine owners of the Eclipse or sell unused hours through One Charter's brokerage services.
    In the meantime One Charter plans to set up its own Air Operating Certificate ('AOC') using a modern propeller aircraft with similar state of the art avionics that can be found in the Eclipse 500 so the company is ready for immediate operation upon the aircraft's delivery.
    Whilst the Eclipse is not yet certified for operation in Europe and the UK, the Company is anticipating certification in 2007. Should certification come earlier than expected, the Company would seek to obtain earlier delivery slots for the fraction owners. Current projections believe that the aircraft will be certified some time in 2007. The Eclipse is the quietest jet aircraft in history and, designed to land at much smaller airports around the world, has exceeded the US industry's most stringent noise requirements as set forth by the International Civil Aviation
Organization (ICAO) and used in Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) testing. One Charter remains in constant dialogue with the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to ascertain an expected certification date in Europe.
    The Delivery slot obtained for the aircraft is October 2008. However having purchased this slot One Charter gains access to all the names and addresses of all other Eclipse slot holders. This means that it will possibly be able to negotiate an earlier delivery with other owners.
Positions are currently selling at a premium of between US$200,000 to US$500,000.
    Mike Ryan, the Company's CEO, says: "The Eclipse is the first of a new generation of very light jets that we believe will transform the business aviation market. It has always been our goal to capitalise on the opportunities provided by new technology in this sector and I am delighted that One Charter is one of the first UK private aviation companies to be able to offer access to the very light jet in Europe."