Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1521091
NEWS 12 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 22 MAY 2024 LITHUANIAN aircraft leasing and charter company GetJet Air- lines, owned by Alexandr Celia- din's GetJet Aviation Holdings, has announced its financial re- sults for 2023. The company saw significant growth, with EBITDA increasing over fourfold to €28.1 million (a 316% rise), net profit jumping 5.7 times higher than 2022 (469% growth), and revenue soaring by 70% to €176 million from €103.9 million. As stated by GetJet executives, the recovery of the aviation mar- ket to pre-pandemic levels and the company's strategic emphasis on delivering premium service quality played a pivotal role in the growth of financial performance. The market's recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic has marked increased demand for Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance, and Insurance (ACMI) services. "The demand for flights was on the rise; however, not all airlines were able to swiftly restore their capacity due to shortages in air- craft, crews, and other resourc- es. Consequently, our services emerged as an appealing solution for airlines aiming to prompt- ly and efficiently address the heightened demand for flights," said Rūta Kulvinskaitė, the CEO of GetJet Airlines. According to Darius Viltrakis, head of GetJet Aviation Holdings, one of the main reasons for such revenue growth was the return to the optimal size of the company's operations. "First of all, I should emphasize that the company's operations and fleet size have re- turned to the optimal level they were before COVID-19. In 2023, we carried almost 1.5 million passengers. Our fleet currently consists of 16 aircraft, including Boeing 737-800, Airbus A320, and A321 aircraft. This compo- sition strengthens our readiness to work with a wider customer base around the world and, along with the size of the aircraft fleet, is the most effective for our strat- egy, which is focused on flexibil- ity and adaptation to customer needs," he said. High profitability: the success of the premium service strategy The profitability indicator of GetJet Airlines achieved in 2023 stands out strongly in the general context of aviation. Ac- cording to the International Air Transport Association (IA- TA), the average EBIT margin of aviation market players was 4.5%. In the same period, the EBIT margin indicator of GetJet Air- lines was almost 4 times higher at 15.9%. Rūta Kulvinskaitė attributes this success to their deliberate strategy. "We do not compete with size but offer exceptional quality service. When you are very big, you cannot be flexible and fast. Our focus is on flexibility and providing the highest quality services tailored to meet the specific needs of our clientele. Our target customers can pay more for premium services. We have already secured a loy- al base of customers, such as Vueling, Transavia, and Wiz- zair. This is a great apprecia- tion for the quality of our ser- vices," said Kulvinskaitė. According to the executives, a strong company team is most important for ensuring the quality of services. "I can confidently say that in Vilnius, we have assembled the strongest team of aviation specialists in Europe. The ex- ceptional professionalism of our crews and the high quality of services provided have gar- nered worldwide acclaim, so we are confidently establishing our position as a reliable part- ner offering premium service quality," said Viltrakis. The company has also imple- mented a digitization strategy to perform its services even more efficiently. "This has significantly im- proved the quality of customer service and increased opera- tional efficiency. We have even smoother flight planning, more efficient aircraft maintenance, and a faster response to cus- tomer needs than ever before," Viltrakis said. GetJet Airlines experiences 70% increase in revenue to €176 million Ruta Kulvinskaite Darius Viltrakis THE adverse weather condi- tions wreaked havoc on the meticulously planned Foiling 100 challenge, a windsurfing race from Malta to Ragusa. The event, hosted by Malta Young Sailors Club, the long- est offshore wind foiling race in the Mediterranean experi- enced unstable weather con- ditions in the week building up to the race and on race day presented significant set- backs to the organisers. With the original plan to race to Ragusa falling through on Saturday, the possibility of racing from Ragusa to Malta, on Sunday, was also con- sidered. Unfortunately, the capricious nature of the ele- ments – due to thunder cell activity, thwarted those plans as well, leaving the organiz- ing committee with the sole option for safety purposes, of covering the 100 km course around the Maltese islands. Race Officer Andrew Wil- son explained that the de- cision to eventually shorten the course, was solely based on the safety of the compet- itors and the backup teams following them on the wa- ter. The race was stopped at 1220hrs due to a large weath- er front which hit the Mal- tese islands. The Fleet was divided into two categories, the IQFoil Olympic Class and an over- all category Open Windfoil. Overall winner was Malta based Kamil Manowiecki followed by Maltese veteran windsurfer Jean Paul Fleri Soler and German profes- sional windsurfer Nico Prien. In the IQFoil, the first two placings were the same, how- ever third place was taken by Malta's Shaun Miggiani. Foiling 100 was sponsored by Yachting Malta Ltd and supported by Visit Malta, Casamigos and Enemed. Malta based windsurfer wins Foiling 100 event