In the 21st century, business aviation or ‘private jet’ in local parlance, has emerged as a major enabler of business around the world. This is particularly noticeable in Africa, an evolving economy with a vibrant, youthful and increasingly enterprising population.
A new generation of business leaders are emerging on the continent to become competitive on a global scale even as the African culture becomes an international attraction.
As innovation continues and new businesses spring up in an increasingly globalized world, there is a pertinent need for business leaders to get to crucial destinations faster, more efficiently and with less distraction from work. One of the companies that has positioned itself to maximize these emerging opportunities is Vivajets, a Nigerian aviation company providing a full range of aircraft charter and management services, fractional ownership opportunities, and aircraft sales and acquisition.
Vivajets is one of the companies under Falcon Aerospace Limited, alongside digital platforms, CharterXE and FlyPJX. Within just a year of existence, Vivajets has made significant efforts to redefine the African business aviation industry.
For the 21st century business leader, business aviation is more than a luxury; it is a vital leveraging tool that facilitates extra competitive advantage with regards to efficiency in transportation and logistics.
Whilst some people consider owning or booking a private jet as a status symbol, others recognize that the long lines, waits, limited space and non-customized service associated with commercial airliners are sometimes unnecessary impediments to business. With business aviation, business leaders can get to their destinations faster and more efficiently whilst maximizing the time spent onboard for further business activities.
As an African company, Vivajets is committed to business connectivity in Africa, a continent of countries that are close geographically but distant economically. The CEO of Vivajets, Erika Achum, puts it succinctly during a recent international press conference, noting how ridiculous it is, that a commercial flight from Lagos to Luanda (3 hours apart), will have to make a detour in Europe enroute. According to Erika, Vivajets aims to facilitate business connectivity in Africa by helping both established and emerging business leaders get to their target destinations faster, more efficiently, more conveniently and at lesser cost via customized business aviation services optimized by technology and innovation.
Another way Vivajets hopes to redefine the business is its introduction of the fractional aircraft ownership service, an alternative to acquiring a private jet. An initiative not common in African countries like Nigeria, the fractional ownership service is designed to enable subscribers experience the luxury of aircraft ownership and exclusive travel at a fraction of the purchasing and maintenance costs. It caters for the aviation needs of a larger market segment that remains unattended to through charters and full ownership. These are people or organizations who want something more customized beyond charter but want to avoid the huge costs of purchasing an aircraft. Maintenance of the aircraft under the initiative will be done by Vivajets under its aircraft maintenance program, taking a huge burden off the shoulders of subscribers.
Moreover, Vivajets is leveraging on digital technology to optimize its services, employing artificial intelligence and cloud computing to maximize value. According to statistics firm, Zipdo, Cloud services are now utilized by over 95% of airlines for their critical operations and over 70% of airlines are making advanced trials or have already deployed AI within multiple areas of their business in 2020.
Vivajets’ efforts at leveraging these innovations have led to the creation of affiliate technology companies, Charterxe and FlyPJX, both of which are digital platforms offering their own unique services to compliment Vivajets. Charterxe offers digital aircraft charter whist FlyPJX offers automated charter per seat services, giving people the private jet experience, but at a significantly lower cost.
Furthermore, Vivajets is an end-to-end service provider in the business aviation space. This means that its operations are designed to maximize value at every section of the value chain. For instance, the aircraft under the fractional ownership program can be used for charter flights to service other customers whilst at the same time, generating revenue for the owners and to maintain the aircraft. Furthermore, inefficiencies in the value chain are cut to the minimum. For instance, if a chartered aircraft flies from Lagos to London, it would have to return empty after dropping its passengers. However, with FlyPJX, the charter per seat platform affiliated with Vivajets, a customer planning to travel from London to Lagos will easily see online that there is a flight available.
Lastly, whilst relatively new to the market, Vivajets is fast becoming the first choice for premium business aviation in Nigeria and across the African continent. As an organization with deep African roots and values, Vivajets possesses a significant understanding of the business terrain in Africa and beyond whilst leveraging on technology to deliver seamless and efficient services to its customers. The Vivajets story is an embodiment of the triumph of innovation, commitment to excellence and leveraging of technology for service improvement. It is an evolving story, yet it is a story worth being told.
