Swiss billionaire Thomas Flohr is a World Endurance Championship racing driver who has spent 22 years building VistaJet into a $2.9 billion revenue private aviation business with global reach.
asserted
who → spend → reach
He is now weighing a possible market listing that could value his holding company at $10 billion, even as war in the Middle East sends jet fuel prices higher and economists debate how much longer the boom in global luxury spending can continue.
uncertain
boom → weigh → spending
Flohr, with a fleet of almost 200 planes and an order for up to 160 new Bombardier jets over the next decade, doesn’t see any turbulence on the horizon.
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Flohr → see → horizon
Vista has seen “an explosion of demand at the top end” of the market for its longest-haul flights, he says, with growth from Asia to Africa driving record sales and 28% growth in flying hours sold in the group’s latest quarter.
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growth → see → quarter
Even in the Middle East, where many planes were grounded immediately after the US-Israeli strikes on Iran, Vista’s founder and chairman says there has been “a significant surge” in demand from local clients.
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founder → ground → clients
Second-quarter sales in the region, measured in hours, were up more than 68% year over year.
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sales → measure → year
Private aviation has undergone “a massive change in perception” since Vista was founded in 2004, Flohr says, shedding its “Hollywood image” as companies prize the ability to move their executives around the world quickly and jets with ranges up to 17 hours bring more locations within reach.
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jets → undergo → reach
In business today, “everything is now,” he says.
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he → say → business
Flohr’s company has a subscription model and typically charges between $11,000 and $25,000 per hour for its flights, but he says companies have become more willing to entertain such operating expenses than the tens of millions of dollars in capital expenditure required to buy their own jets.
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companies → have → jets
A company-owned aircraft might fly 250 hours a year, but Vista’s fleet averages 1,000 hours, allowing it to recoup its fixed costs faster.
uncertain
it → own → costs
“If you control and own the airplane, you can offer the client ultimately what he wants, and I think that is the key to our success,” Flohr says.
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Flohr → control → success
“It always starts with the customer because in the end, we’re not paying our own bills.
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we → start → bills
It’s the client that awards you the revenue.”
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that → ’ → revenue
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
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interview → edit → clarity
How’s business right now?
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business → ’ → ?
What’s driving the growth?
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What → drive → growth
We see a surge in global demand.
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We → see → demand
Obviously, the tech sector is on fire, and they of all the industries have the biggest global coverage demand.
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they → have → demand
One day, a meeting in South Korea; the next day, a meeting in Japan; then there is a meeting in Abu Dhabi; then everybody is back in Silicon Valley, so they’re zooming around the world.
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they → be → world
Even if you own your own jet or two of them, you can’t really effectively cover the globe unless you have a global fleet, and they’re very conscious of the time efficiencies that they gain by flying point to point.
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they → own → point
You have told bond investors that you’re considering an IPO, possibly this year.
uncertain
you → tell → IPO
What can you say about those plans?
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you → say → plans
I can’t really say much.
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I → say → much
We have an obligation to communicate if we’re considering certain alternatives.
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we → have → alternatives
But considering is one thing, and execution [is another].
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execution → consider → ?
We continue to explore our capital market alternatives.
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We → continue → alternatives
It’s prudent in the debt and the equity markets that you always have all alternatives available to you.
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you → ’ → you
So you’ve got to be ready for the bond market, and the same is true for the equity markets.
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same → get → markets
If you’re ready, and the right opportunity comes, you can go.
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you → ’re → ?
That’s what I’m drilling into the heads of my company, that this is always a prudent thing to do, because you never want to be in a situation where you say, “Ah, I have an opportunity.
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I → ’ → opportunity
I might need capital.
uncertain
I → need → capital
I need nine months to get there.”
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I → need → months
There was a period where airspace was closed in the Gulf after the Iran conflict began, and then questions about whether the region’s growth story would be interrupted.
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story → be → Gulf
What’s your appraisal now?
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appraisal → ’ → ?
Yes, the airspace was closed for a little while, as it would be in any conflict.
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it → close → conflict
It’s like, for us, nothing changed.
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nothing → ’ → us
Today, when you’re actually spending time in the UAE, you don’t feel anything.
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you → spend → anything
It’s business as usual.
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It → ’ → ?
People need to move, and it’s much more difficult for an airline to restart a global logistics infrastructure than it is for us.
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it → need → us
So our hours signed up in Q2 were up about 50% year-over-year.
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hours → sign → year
…and 29 more, not listed.
The Aporia
