Airlines Qatar Airways acquires minority stake in JetSuite

With this investment in JetSuite, Qatar Airways wants to boost the growth of JetSuite’s private aviation business, which currently focuses on light and very light jets. The investment extends to JetSuiteX, the sibling company to JetSuite, further accelerating the expansion of its acclaimed semi-private air service on the U.S. West Coast. JetSuiteX operates its fleet of Embraer ERJ-135 aircraft from private terminals in California and Nevada. The Qatar Airways investment should enable faster expansion of this fleet and the ability to reach new destinations, including the potential to bring the semi-private model to additional U.S. regions.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to invest in such unique business as JetSuite and JetSuiteX; we believe that both businesses are complementary to Qatar Airways’ business and maintain the core values and customer focus of our own business. We believe that JetSuite and JetSuiteX deliver a truly class-leading service to the U.S. market with a huge potential for development, and we are very excited to invest in this opportunity alongside JetBlue and the other investors.”

This investment further supports Qatar Airways’ investment strategy, which already includes minority investments in several other international carriers, such as the IAG Group, LATAM Airlines Group, Cathay Pacific and Air Italy.

JetSuite is a California-based private jet airline that offers charter flights with a fleet of 13 Embraer Phenom 100, eight JetSuite Edition CJ3 and six Embraer ERJ-135. In 2016, JetSuite announced its new product JetSuiteX. The service provides scheduled flights between several US West Coast destinations. All flights are operated with the Embraer ERJ-135 jets, configured with 30 seats. JetSuite is partnered with the US major carrier JetBlue.