Jennifer Harrington-Snell

Eclipse Aerospace (Booth No. 1235) and Spanish charter operator Jet Ready will launch the first European air-taxi service using the Eclipse 500 very light jet (VLJ) here at EBACE tomorrow.
The event on Wednesday (at 9 a.m. in Meeting Room 3, Hall 7) will tout the benefits of the VLJ air-taxi model, which Jet Ready CEO Ignacio Garcia claims is “a revolution in traditional private aviation.” The company boasts a 40-percent price reduction compared to other air-taxi operators, and claims to be the first to operate via the Internet.
The presentation also marks the first entry into the European market for the U.S. manufacturer. “We are confident that the Eclipse 500 will prove to be a very economical and profitable aircraft for many commercial air operators in Europe,” said Mason Holland, chairman and president of Eclipse Aerospace.
The Eclipse 500 is equipped with two Pratt &amp; Whitney PW610F engines and has a range of 1,125 nm and max cruise speed of 370 knots. The interior, configured as a sedan with three offset seats in its cabin, has been designed by BMW Group DesignworksUSA. 
After spending more than $1 billion in development and the production of 260 EA500s, Eclipse Aviation ceased production and operation in February 2009 due to lack of funds. After buying the assets of the bankrupt Eclipse Aviation, Mason Holland and Michael Press, who were both EA500 customers, reopened the company as Eclipse Aerospace and restarted operations on September 4 last year.

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