Companies and individuals in the process of selling private aircraft now have access to SkyShare’s fractional ownership program through its new SkyBridge service. The Utah-based private aviation services group's aircraft sales brokerage service offering allows sellers to travel with the same terms and pricing as SkyShare’s fractional owners. Its fractional fleet includes a mix of Cessna Citation CJ2s and Excels, as well as Gulfstream G200s and Pilatus PC-12s.
According to SkyShare, the new offering is intended to ease the “apprehension and hesitation” felt by those selling aircraft and trying to determine their future travel options, “by alleviating the pressure of reacquiring an aircraft with a ticking clock.” The company’s new SFX-12 program, as well as the SFX-Jet and SFX+ options, are available for flights originating or terminating in its primary service area, which runs west from Colorado to the Pacific in the continental U.S.
SkyBridge clients have access to fractional benefits, including one-way and round-trip pricing, for either nine flight-utilization days or 90 consecutive calendar days, depending on which period expires sooner. By comparison, a standard one-sixteenth share in the SkyShare programs allows 20 flight-utilization days. There are no aircraft repositioning fees, and, subject to FAA crew duty limits, there are no minimum or maximum daily flight hour restrictions. All SkyBridge brokerage client flights are flown as Part 135 charter operations.
“The end of the year is always the busiest time to buy and sell aircraft, primarily due to tax reasons,” said Cory Bengtzen, SkyShare’s founder and CEO. “Business leaders and fliers who purchase aircraft before the end of the year will enjoy maximizing tax deductions on the transaction, which is a big reason why we are launching SkyBridge now.”
SkyShare also offers aircraft management and charter services, as well as running FBOs at Salt Lake City and Ogden in Utah; Scottsdale, Arizona; and Gnoss Field Airport in the San Francisco Bay area. It manages aircraft under both Part 91 private and Part 135 commercial rules.
The company was founded in 2009 as an aircraft brokerage. It said it expects to complete around 20 transactions in 2024 with a combined value of around $100 million.
“We love brokering aircraft and understand that many of our clients desire their own plane for various reasons,” Andrew Steward, SkyShare’s managing director of sales and acquisitions, told AIN. “Our goal isn’t to sell them a different product, but rather solve a pain point our clients consistently tell us they experience—one that is endemic to aircraft sales, namely, time lost while their aircraft is in pre-buy.”