December 28, 2023
Jet Linx Aviation officially opens its 20th base tonight at Miami’s Opa Locka Executive Airport. At the same time, it adds its second Florida location acquiring Boca Raton-based Southern Jet.
The deal brings a Challenger 300, two Hawker 800XPs, and three Lear 60s.
Jet Linx is the 7th largest operator in North America, based on 42,284 charter and fractional flight hours. Last year, it clocked a 35.6% increase in flight hours.
Southern Jet flew 3,870 hours last year, enough to have boosted it into the 5th spot, ahead of FlyExclusive, according to WingX.
Southern’s 2021 flight hours jumped 72% compared to 2020 and 125.1% against 2019.
“We are thrilled to add the team at Southern Jet to our Jet Linx family of locations and have them join our South Florida expansion plans. They’re a top-notch team and organization, and their approach to providing the very best in local customer service and commitment to safety makes for an easy integration,” says Jet Linx President & CEO Jamie Walker.
He added, “We continue to see increasingly strong demand in Florida and have been focused on pursuing acquisition opportunities to expand our facilities and operations in the marketplace.”
It marks Jet Linx’s fifth deal since 2015.
The Omaha-based management company and jet card provider acquired ProJet Aviation at Washington-Dulles in 2016. Recently, Meridian Aircraft’s managed fleet and charter clients opened Teterboro Airport,.while its acquisition of Elliott Aviation’s management and charter were used debut Minneapolis, both in 2020.
Last year, Jet Linx said it had formed a dedicated team to seek deals.
It’s the fifth M&A deal announced so far this year. Wheels Up bought light jet operator Alante Air Charter. It also entered an agreement to buy broker Air Partner. Vista Global announced an agreement to buy Air Hamburg last week. In January Private Jet Services got things rolling, buying Keystone Aviation.
It comes as Argus TraqPak predicts 2022 to be another record-breaking year.
Jet Linx offers fixed one-way pricing and guaranteed availability in the Continental U.S., Canada, Caribbean, and Mexico. However, it targets jet card customers at airports near its 21 base locations where it operates its own private terminals.
After suspending jet card sales to new customers in the Fall, Jet Linx restarted limited sales in January.
OPF gives Jet Linx a presence at 14 of the 25 busiest U.S. private jet airports.
