WIJET

About WIJET

Wijet was a French private jet airline established in 2009 by co-founders including Alexandre Azoulay and Corentin Denoeud. The company aimed to disrupt the private aviation sector with a low-cost, on-demand air taxi model, initially operating with a homogenous fleet of four-seater Cessna Citation Mustang very light jets. Its business model centered on a simple, all-inclusive hourly pricing structure, facilitated by a real-time online booking platform called OpenJet. Wijet served a client base across France and the Benelux countries, and notably formed a partnership with Air France to provide its La Première first-class passengers with private jet connections to 1,200 European airports.

In a significant move towards consolidation in the European air taxi market, Wijet acquired its UK-based competitor, Blink, in September 2016. This acquisition created the largest very light jet air taxi company at the time, with a combined fleet of 15 Cessna Citation Mustangs. The merged entity, known as the Wijet Group, was to be jointly managed by Wijet's Corentin Denoeud and Blink's co-founder, Cameron Ogden. The strategic goal was to achieve economies of scale in maintenance, fuel, and insurance, thereby offering more competitive pricing to customers. The combined group projected revenues of €18 million for 2016, with forecasts reaching €28 million the following year.

Despite the ambitious expansion, the integration proved challenging. The acquisition of Blink was later called "a mistake" by co-founder Alexandre Azoulay, citing the high operational costs of Blink's aging fleet and integration issues. Compounded by post-Brexit uncertainty regarding its UK Air Operator's Certificate (AOC), Wijet shut down its UK operations in 2018. The company then attempted a strategic pivot, planning to replace its aging Mustang fleet with an order for 16 new HondaJet HA-420s and shift to a model where it would own the aircraft but have them operated by third-party partners. However, financial troubles persisted, leading to the judicial liquidation of Wijet's French subsidiary in late 2019. By February 2020, the company's brand, website domain, and customer files were put up for sale by liquidators, marking the end of its operations.