Jetbird | Our Origins

Founded in 2006 - Mr Dómhnal Slattery, Founder and Chairman of Jetbird, launches the business at EBACE in Geneva commenting, “Jetbird has a clear and compelling vision that will revolutionise the executive travel market in a manner similar to the low-cost airline transformation of the commercial air travel market. We will provide an attractive alternative for existing executive jet users, but also bring the executive jet travel experience to a market for whom it has been too expensive.

May 2006 - Jetbird announces that it has chosen the Embraer Phenom 100 and 300 aircraft to support the new low-cost, pan-European executive jet service which it will launch in 2009. Jetbird is the European fleet launch customer for the Phenom aircraft. Jetbird has agreed to acquire 59 Phenom 100 aircraft for delivery from 2009 with options to acquire up to 41 further aircraft over an extended period. Jetbird also has the right to convert all of its order options to the larger Phenom 300 aircraft.

June 2006 - Embraer announces today that it has performed the first metal cut for the Phenom 100 programme. The event took place at the Company’s main plant in São José dos Campos, Brazil.  

July 2006 - Embraer announces that the first run of the Phenom 100’s PW617F engine was performed at Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. (P&WC) on June 29, 2006. The engine run demonstrates overall system functionality and verifies engine performance and operability.

November 2006 - Jetbird enters into a strategic partnership with leading German aviation industrialist, Conrado Dornier, to enhance its knowledge and expertise within the German market. As part of this strategic partnership, Mr. Dornier will also make an equity investment in Jetbird.

May 2007 - Stefan Vilner is appointed to the position of Jetbird CEO. Stefan joins Jetbird from Sterling Airlines where he was Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) with responsibility for the airline’s revenue and yield management, advertising and branding, distribution and product development, for four years. Stefan’s succeeded in increasing Sterling’s revenue by 42% over in and cutting distribution costs by 25%. Stefan was also responsible for the migration of 95% of Sterling’s sales to its online booking platform. Stefan’s knowledge in this area will be a key asset to Jetbird, a company who envisages the bulk of distribution to be web-based.

May 2007 - Canadian Aviation Electronics (CAE) and Embraer announce the European training location for the Phenom 100 Very Light Jet and Phenom 300 Light Jet aircraft. The training programmes will be offered at CAE’s centre in the UK located in Burgess Hill, near London’s Gatwick airport, and will begin in 2009 when the first Phenom 100 is delivered in Europe.

July, 2007 - Jetbird welcomes the maiden flight of the first Phenom 100 Very Light Jet (VLJ), in São José dos Campos, Brazil. The maiden flight which took place on schedule lasted for 1 hour and 36 minutes and several manoeuvres were performed to check the aircraft.

February 2008 - Carsten Dettmar is appointed to the position of Jetbird CFO. Carsten’s strong track record in aviation-financing and extensive budget carrier experience are a significant asset to Jetbird during the development of its business model. Carsten joins Jetbird from Air Berlin where he was involved the company’s IPO in 2006 and also the acquisitions of DBA and LTU prior to his move to Jetbird.

July 2008 - Jetbird begins firming orders for its 50 Embraer Phenom 100 option aircraft. Jetbird’s firm orders now stand at 59 and it eventually plans to expand to a fleet of 100 Phenom aircraft.  Jetbird will receive its first aircraft in June 2009, deliveries will then occur at an average rate of 2 aircraft per month until 2010.

August 2008 - Siegfried Roemer is appointed Director of Sales at Jetbird. Siegfried will spearhead Jetbird’s sales initiatives throughout Europe with an initial focus on the German market. Siegfried was previously a leading management consultant and helped launch of a considerable number of high-profile businesses in Germany.

September 2008 - Jetbird announces a strategic investment of €10 million from a Middle Eastern trading group, valuing the company at over of €100 million. In the same month Jetbird also announces that it had secured debt financing for the pre delivery payments of its first 25 Phenom aircraft from RBS.

December 2008 - Embraer’s Phenom 100 received US FAA Certificate and Brazil’s ANAC Certificate.  European certification is expected in Q2 2009.

December 2008 - Embraer announces that it made the first delivery of the Phenom 100 jet, on December 24, in São José dos Campos. 

April 2009 - Jetbird announces the choice of Köln-Bonn, Germany, as its first base of operations due to its proximity to major European business centres. In addition, the base will serve the French and Italian Rivieras along with other Mediterranean destinations and the Adriatic. Jetbird will launch its commercial flight operations from Cologne/Bonn Airport in Germany.

2010 - Jetbird will commence operations.

For further information on our Aspirations at Jetbird please click on the following link;

Our Aspirations