Story ID: 
All-you-can-fly Bizjet Service To Start in Germany
By: Ian Sheppard
Caption: JetEight’s initial focus will be on Europe and will use “small private jets from lower-traffic terminals,” but also VIP terminals at major airports.
Word Count: 275
Germany will get its first private aviation membership club with the anticipated launch of the JetEight “all you can fly” service in July, “partnering with leading private aircraft operators” and charging members €2,500 ($2,679) a month. JetEight was “initiated” by students at the ESMT business school in Berlin, the company said in a statement issued last week. The number eight in its name reflects the expected passenger load per flight.

JetEight’s initial focus will be on Europe, and the club will use “small private jets from lower-traffic terminals,” but also VIP terminals at major airports. It is currently looking at connecting the business centers of Berlin, Zurich and Frankfurt, “with additional cities to follow.”

The company suggested that time savings could average an hour per flight by avoiding the “ever longer” waiting times at commercial airports. According to JetEight founder Ruben Portz, “This is the future of short-haul business travel—fly as much as you want for a fixed monthly fee, and get unlimited access at private terminals and jets.”

Portz reflected that JetEight is “the result of European carriers losing focus on value and underserving their business-class passengers. Trying to compete with low-cost carriers, they simply forgot what short-haul business class stands for. Whereas the business traveler would like to travel quickly from A to B, he or she ends up in dreadful security checks, slow boarding procedures and waiting for transfer passengers.”

As an incentive for travelers to sign up, JetEight said that initial members will be “reimbursed” for flights taken with airlines, to compensate for the JetEight network being limited to start with.