Air Taxi, Vanuatu’s Largest Private Air Charter, Up for Sale
March 8, 2024 4:58 am | Posted in Business News | Share now TwitterFacebook
By Doddy Morris.
An Airline Business in Vanuatu that was identified to be Air Taxi, Vanuatu’s largest private air charter tour operator, has been advertised for sale by iProperty, a real estate agency in Vanuatu.
Efforts have been made to contact the General Manager of Air Taxi, Julia Johnstone but she has refused to talk about the issue, saying “No comments”. However, the IProperty team, confirmed when the Daily Post visit that it is the Air Taxi.
According to the advertisement made by iProperty, this is a Profitable Part 135 Air Charter Operator & Maintenance Provider for sale in Vanuatu.
Part 135 is a certificate required by the Federal Aviation Administration for a company to operate as a non-scheduled air charter carrier.
The business claims to offer a 20% ROI, which is a measure of the profitability and efficiency of the investment.
The asking price for acquiring the business is AUD $4.9 million or approximately VT380 million.
“Significant scalable upside opportunity to materially grow revenue and profit within existing business. Business is currently turning away business as cannot keep up with demand.
“Potential to move to Part 125 certification and enter the Regular Passenger Transport market with larger and more capable 10-30 seat aircraft,” iProperty advertised.
It mentioned the current fleet consists of three Britten Normal Islanders BN2 Aircraft, twin engine and 10x seats (1xCrew, 9xPax) and one single engine Gippsland GA8 Aircraft, single engine and 8x seats (1xCrew, 7xPax).
History of Air Taxi
The Air Taxi web page stated that Air Taxi Vanuatu is part of the Pacific Air Services Group, comprising the charter operation of Air Taxi, its maintenance facility and the group’s leasing arm, Air Leasing Pacific Ltd.
It has its beginnings in 2004, when two pilots, Wayne Allport and Simon Turner, decided to start their own seaplane airline. They purchased and then flew a Maule seaplane from the Waitara River, near New Plymouth, New Zealand and ferried it 1,300 naut1cal miles to Port Vila in Vanuatu.
The company, then known as Vanuatu Seaplanes, flew scenic fights and volcano tours from the beach at Iririki Island, in Port Vila Harbour, for several years. Air Taxi wrote that in late 2009, the company sold the seaplane business and purchased a five passenger seat, wheeled, Cessna 206 and started running volcano tours to Tanna.
“To be able to cope with increased demand, Air Taxi Vanuatu purchased another aircraft in December 2010, this time a six/seven passenger seat Cessna 207. Thereafter, the business expanded and now, in addition to the Cessna aircraft, operates a number of twin engine, Britton Norman Islander aircraft.
“As of April, 2016, the group own and operate 7 aircraft on charter, air tours, medevac, scenic flights, aerial survey, photography and sky diving around the islands of Vanuatu and beyond, in the South Pacific,” Air Taxi wrote on their history.
However, the airlines have provided services throughout the islands of Vanuatu, it has help the National Airline of Vanuatu, Air Vanuatu most of the times when the national airline has problems with its fleet. They have also act as an emergency service to bring sick patient from the islands to Santo or Port Vila for better health services.
