Vista Global's Flohr wants to double private jet utilization

Speaking to Arabian Business, VistaJet and XO boss Thomas Flohr believes he can get more flight hours out of his current and future private jet fleet

Thomas Flohr, the chairman and founder of Dubai-based Vista Global Holding, says there is a lot of room to grow – in his own fleet.

That’s despite plans to add a dozen new Bombardier Global 7500s and Challenger 350s in the next 24 months.

Flohr told Arabian Business his company’s fleet is currently in the air about 1,000 per annum per aircraft. That compares to an industry average for similar type private jets of just 250 hours.

However, the boss of VistaJet, XO, and Apollo Jets, and minority shareholder in U.S. operators XOJET Aviation, Red Wing Aviation, and now Talon Air, believes he can get more flights onto his fleet – and more people onto those flights.

Airlines such as Emirates, British Airways and Qatar Airways get around 4,000 flight hours flight hours per Boeing 777, Flohr says.

Speaking about his fleet, he told the business journal, “We’re currently using them 1,000 hours…I want to drive this to 1,500 or 2,000 hours.”

Jetting Smarter

Additionally, Flohr is bullish on the jet sharing crowdfunding platform offered by XO, acquired when he bought by-the-seat broker JetSmarter in 2019.

“We should have more people in the cabin. Sharing this by technology, sharing this cabin with more people allows you to bring the ticket cost down and I think, in general, it’s the own fault of the industry,” Flohr says.

He charges, “The industry was way too backward-looking. Everything had to be double or triple as expensive because it has this stigma of a business jet.”

“I want to change these old, expensive habits which, at the end of the day, the customer is paying for, and why should they if there are methods available to bring the price-point down,” he concludes.