Alpha Flying Soars

While the commercial airline industry is nickel-and-diming and dealing with frustrated customers, Alpha Flying Inc. in Portsmouth is flying high. The company, which manages PlaneSense, a program that allows people and businesses to buy part ownership in a jet, has executives flocking to its doors. And those doors now open into a much bigger facility.

In June, Alpha Flying and its affiliate company Atlas Aircraft Center unveiled its newly constructed 84,000-square-foot aviation facility at Pease International Tradeport.

The facility was built using technology to make it energy efficient. Its 44,000-square-foot hangar features thermally insulated doors and full under-floor radiant heating. The building also has VoIP and Wi-Fi throughout.

The company had outgrown the facility it leased in Manchester and hired Pro Con Inc. in Manchester to design and build the $15 million facility at Pease to accommodate further growth. The aircraft management company, which employs 270 people, says its PlaneSense program is one of the six largest aircraft fractional ownership programs in North America.

Founded in 1992, Alpha Flying launched PlaneSense in 1995. It has 34 PC-12s in its fleet and has additional orders for 19 more through 2010. It also has 25 orders for the Grob Spn Jet, which provides greater speed and range. Delivery on those jets is set to begin in the second quarter of 2009.

Participants in the PlaneSense fractional ownership program own shares of six-person luxury aircraft. Alpha Flying arranges for the scheduling, maintenance, crewing and other administrative services. You get all the benefits of owning an aircraft at a fraction of the cost, says George Antoniadis, president and CEO. You only buy as much as you need. Alpha Flying guarantees the availability of its planes to customers with eight hours
notice.

We can pick you up anywhere east of the Mississippi, Antoniadis says. The average age of its planes is 2.6 years.

We rotate planes out after five to six years to keep a young fleet, Antoniadis says. We want to have the latest and safest aircraft. The aircraft are equipped with satellite phones and data link capabilities.

In 2007, the company flew more than 20,000 flights and is on track to increase that by 15 percent this year, Antoniadis says. Our revenue growth has been in the 15 to 20 percent range in the past two years, he says.

For more information, visit www.alphaflying.com.