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August 25, 2008
Marquis Jet sees demand climb in Twin Cities
Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal - by Katharine Grayson Staff Writer
Marquis Jet, a New York firm that resells fractional ownership of private jets, is getting a lift in business from Minnesotans.
The number of people in the state that have bought Marquis Jet Card memberships, which give the user 25 hours of flight time, increased 33 percent from 2006 to 2007.
The company expects business here to continue to grow, due to demand from Minnesotans who fly to warmer climes during the winter months, and an overall increase in the market for fractional ownership of jets.
Marquis flies out of Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport and Rochester International. It’s offered service to Minnesota for years, but has recently increased its on-the-ground presence in the state, opening a small Twin Cities sales office. Randy Brandoff, vice president of marketing for Marquis, puts Minnesota membership in the dozens.
Marquis was founded in 2001, in an effort to lure travelers who don’t want take on full ownership of a jet or book charter flights each time they want to use a private plane.
“We saw an enormous divide between services with a long-term commitment and commitment per flight,” Brandoff said.
The company partners with NetJets, a company owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. that operates a fleet of 750 planes. NetJets was launched as “aviation’s answer to time-share,” Brandoff said. Marquis Jet memberships run between $126,900 and $349,900, depending on the aircraft.
Marquis’ uptick in business is part of a broader trend in private aviation. Nationally, Frost & Sullivan reported in 2005 that fractional ownership had grown from 548 in 1996 to upward of 7,000 in 2004. The movement has continued to increase since then, Brandoff added.
“The continued degradation of commercial services is increasingly part of the decision,” he said. “It’s not just luxury; it’s really something that’s rational and efficient.”
Other private-aviation firms also have seen significant growth in Minnesota. JetChoice, a firm based at St. Paul’s Holman Field, has seen its business grow at a compound rate of 55 percent over the last three years, said Bradley Boyle, vice president of marketing. JetChoice sells memberships, giving users access to planes for a certain amount of time each month. JetChoice users don’t officially have any ownership of the aircraft.
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