Luminair Takes Delivery of First of Three Falcon 900LXs

Start-up German air charter operator Luminair took delivery of the first of three Dassault Falcon 900LXs it ordered in June today at Paris Le Bourget Airport (LFPB). The company said it intends to start commercial flights with the aircraft this week after adding the trijet to its air operator certificate.

The large-cabin jet (S/N 336) is joining a fleet that already includes a preowned 2023 Falcon 900LX housed at the company’s Hamburg base, with two more set to be completed at Dassault’s Little Rock, Arkansas, facility before year-end. Luminair also operates three Cessna Citation XLSs and is preparing to add two more of these midsize twinjets.

Founded by a leadership team that worked together at charter group Air Hamburg, which has since been taken over by the Vista group, the operator aims to expand its fleet to around 40 aircraft as it seeks to establish a high-utilization business model. The trio of Citations has already logged 1,300 flight hours to 192 destinations, and Luminair aspires to achieve 1,000 hours-plus annually with each aircraft.

Thanks to a busy European summer season, the XLSs have logged almost another 700 flight hours since the Paris Air Show in June, when the deal with Dassault was announced. In the first six months of this year, the midsize jets had logged 957 hours on trips to 168 destinations, with the company focused on working almost exclusively with charter brokers as opposed to booking trips directly with passengers.

According to Luminair co-founder Algernon Trotter, the XLSs are currently operating a 70/30 ratio between passenger-carrying and ferry flights, and he believes the company can achieve an 80/20 ratio with the Falcons. The new company was jointly founded in January with CEO David Bergold, chief operations officer Alexander Stevens, and chief experience officer Julia Müller.

Filling a Charter Range Gap

Luminair selected the 900LX because its 4,750-nm range fills a gap in the market between the 4,000-nm Bombardier Challenger 605 and 6,000-nm Global Express. The Falcons will expand the intercontinental scope of operations into Asia, building on existing demand for flights to and from the Middle East and across the Atlantic, according to the company.

“The 900LX has the perfect range and fuel consumption for long-range missions,” Trotter told AIN. “For example, we can take eight passengers from Dubai to London, even with airspace closures and strong headwinds en route.”

Another factor drawing Luminair to Dassault was that it opted not to acquire aircraft already in service with leading charter groups such as VistaJet, Flexjet, and AirX. Trotter said it would not be viable to offer the same aircraft options as larger rivals, and that brokers are better served by having more diverse options for trips.

"With the acquisition of these aircraft, Luminair will have the youngest and most modern fleet of Falcon 900LX aircraft in the world," Trotter commented. "We are sure that with our 100% dedicated floating-fleet charter model and our unwavering commitment to our clients on service and reliability, these aircraft will become a mainstay of Europe's heavy jet market."

Luminair's aircraft are owned by the companies individual investors, who lease them back to the company. "They have control over the terms of the lease, and, by extension, the company has the security of guaranteed long-term access to the aircraft," Trotter explained. "This partnership enables a degree of equity on both sides of the field, the aircraft owners are heavily invested in the company's success, and the company is committed to guaranteeing the high utilization needed to provide a robust return on investment on the airframe."

Flight Crew Continuity

Flight crews stay with an aircraft for five to seven days at a time to make the most of permitted duty times. Luminair’s 81-person payroll, which has grown from 11 since January, mainly consists of pilots who train at CAE.

According to Müller, social media is proving to be an effective recruitment platform for crew, with their availability being the main limitation on aircraft utilization. The company is competing with airlines for new hires, with Stevens noting that rates of pilot retirement are shifting and, at the same time, training centers are “not as full as they used to be.”

Base maintenance for the Citation fleet is provided by Alpha Air in Mönchengladbach, Germany. Luminair’s Falcons will mainly be supported by Aero-Dienst in Nuremberg, Germany, as well as by Dassault Falcon Service at Le Bourget.

“On our recent delivery flight, I was struck by how exceptionally quiet the cabin is,” Müller said. “The spacious, refined interior and smooth flight characteristics will resonate with clients. Our experienced crew has invested months in fine-tuning onboard service that will be sure to win over passengers and brokers.”

This story was updated on October 13 to fully explain the ownership basis for the aircraft in Luminair's fleet.