Wijet, the French taxi-jet airline, has decided to base one of its planes at Charleroi airport. This is its first base outside France.
Belgium is one of the Top Ten European countries in terms of traffic, with more than 80 private jet flights a day. A large number of international organisations have their headquarters in Brussels, resulting in a high demand for this type of flight. Wijet aims to capture 10% of market share in Belgium and Corentin Denoeud, the company's CEO, explains why they chose Brussels Charleroi airport: "(Aircraft) taxiing time is 20 minutes on average at Brussels airport, while it is 5 to 10 minutes at Charleroi. Aircraft arrivals take much longer at Brussels than at Charleroi".
The Managing Director of Brussels South Charleroi Airport, Jean-Jacques Cloquet, believes that this shows BSCA's desire to move beyond being merely a low-cost airport and position itself as a business aviation base.
Wijet is the leading taxi-jet company and flies to 1,200 airports, working in partnership with Air France for long-haul flight transfers. A return flight costs € 2,400 an hour and includes services that allow travellers to take a jet as easily as they take a taxi. This is a far cry from a low-cost flight. The jet has four seats on board and can be ready to take off in under two hours; it has the benefit of being able to make non-stop flights to small airports in France and Europe.
