«We want to grow to 40 to 45 aircraft»

Klasjet rents out Boeing 737s. On the one hand in VIP jet variants. On the other hand as commercial aircraft including crews to airlines, known as ACMI business. How is that divided?
Justinas Bulka*: We started as VIP operator. And in 2022 we saw that there was a lot of demand in the ACMI business and that we were also receiving corresponding inquiries. So we decided to enter this market and started looking for Boeing 737-800s. In 2023 we added six of these aircraft to our fleet and in 2024 we added one additional Boeing 737-800 more. 2024 is now the first full year of ACMI operations. And we are growing in both segments.

How many jets do you currently have in the ACMI business and how many in VIP charter?
In the ACMI business we have seven Boeing 737-800s, all with a pure economy cabin, 186 to 189 seats and white livery. We use five Boeing 737 Classic for VIP charters, two -300s and three -500s. They all have a unique design, inside and out, and between 56 and 104 seats. And we also plan to add a Boeing 737-800 in the business jet version, which is currently being converted for us, to our fleet in the fourth quarter of 2024.

How many seats will this jet have?
It has 22 seats, plus showers, sofas, TVs and other VIP equipment. The largest market where we can use this aircraft is the Middle East.

Where will you get the plane from?
We will lease it from another company of our parent company Avia Solutions Group, Aviam Leasing.

VIP charters also include the transport of sports teams. For example, national teams flew with Klasjet at the European Football Championship in Germany. How important are customers from the sports sector to you?
Various national teams and football clubs fly with us – they are among our main customers. So sports is responsible for 60 to 70 percent of the revenue in our VIP business. Football is the main driver, around 85 percent of the total sport segment revenues. But we also carry basketball or ice hockey teams and at this year’s Tour de France a cycling team and its supporters flew with us.

View into the cabin of a Klasjet VIP jet. Image: Klasjet

How is Klasjet’s revunue split between VIP charter business and ACMI?
Last year it was about 50:50. We had a revenue of 60 million euros, of which 30 million came from each of the two areas. This year we expect a increase towards ACMI, so a split of around 55:45 percent in favor to ACMI . This is because we have more ACMI aircraft in our fleet, seven Boeing 737-800s compared to five Boeing 737 Classic. In the future we want to grow in both segments. But we see greater demand and growth in ACMI. We want to grow to 40 to 45 aircraft in around five or six years – 30 to 35 in ACMI configuration and around ten in VIP configuration.

In July you also operated flights for of a famous wedding. What other areas are in the VIP segment?
That’s right, that was something special: three of our aircraft flew to the same destination more or less at the same time. And we had to prepare them in the same way in terms of catering, decorations and other things. We keep the details confidential, of course. But we also carry out government flights, special missions and other projects.

What kind of special missions are these?
For example, during the Covid pandemic we transported passengers who had to fly from Africa to Asia or between other continents, for example, when there were no other flights. When the American troops left Afghanistan, we transported people from surrounding countries to Europe. After the Hamas attack against Israel on October 7, 2023, many people wanted to leave Israel and we operated twelve or thirteen flights, for example to Athens or Larnaca.

Boeing 737-500. Image: Klasjet

Let’s look at the ACMI business. Which airlines are your aircraft currently in use for?
Some of our aircraft fly for the customer Marabu in Germany. We have also leased some of our aircraft to Smartwings for the summer, which are currently in use for operations from Bratislava and Porto. And some aircraft are with El Al in Israel. For the European winter, we are trying to move the aircraft to other regions, mainly to Africa. Some contracts are about to be signed for this. Last winter, we also had aircraft in use in Asia.

Charter operators from Eastern Europe are repeatedly criticized for paying lower wages and having lower social standards. Klasjet war criticized for this in Belgium in 2021, for example. What do you reply?
We work in accordance with the applicable regulations. Also in the case mentioned in Belgium, we did not violate any regulations or laws. The European market is open. Everyone can work where he or she wants. And there is free movement of capital, money, people and other things. And we have a very mixed international team, the largest share of crew members from one country is not more than 6 percent.

How many people work for Klasjet in total at the moment?
We have about 100 to 110 employees in the office. And between 300 and 350 crew members.

Boeing 737-800. Image: Klasjet

We already talked about your fleet, which you want to expand. Will Klasjet remain a pure Boeing 737 operator, or are other models also an option for you?
At the moment we are focusing on Boeing aircraft because of the synergies. But it depends on the market. At the moment it is very difficult to get new aircraft. We are therefore also considering other options. The future will show which way we will go. But at the moment we want to be a Boeing operator.

And are you interested in the Boeing 737 Max?
Not at the moment. There is a certain separation and split between the airlines in our group. We are currently focusing on the 737-800 and are not looking at a 737 Max.

When it comes to traveling in a way that is less harmful to the climate, many airlines point to new, fuel-efficient aircraft models that they are receiving. Klasjet flies with jets from older generations. How are you dealing with this problem?
We and our group really take care of the environment and want to improve our situation as well. The lastest aircraft that added were younger than the jets before. But at the moment it is very difficult to find suitable aircraft on the market at suitable prices.

And is sustainable aviation fuel also an option for you?
Yes, and sustainable fuel comes also as a requirement from the European Union, each year to use more and more.

*Justinas Bulka joined Klasjet in 2018 as Chief Financial Officer. In 2019, he took over the position of airline CEO on an interim basis. In May 2023, he took over the CEO position permanently. The manager speaks Lithuanian, Spanish, English, German and Russian.