Some say that the air taxi era might be dead before it even really gets off the ground but that hasn't stopped the rise of new air taxi businesses. The latest is British air-taxi operator startup FlairJet which plans to start flying next May with a pair of Embraer Phenom 100s. They will lease the very light jets from an Embraer customer in Europe that has 10 Phenom 100s and have ordered one Phenom 100, as well as an option for another but won't get this airplane in 2012. If business expands before then though they can lease further Phenom 100s beginning in 2010. The service will be based at Oxford Airport in southern England and will serve customers in the surrounding counties.

Given that we've seen several small business-class-only outfits close up shop recently and one of the biggest U.S. air taxis also scaled back, it seems like madness to create Europe's first air taxi service right now. But Forbes reports that Peter Leiman and Cameron Ogden, two Harvard Business School graduates are launching the new private jet taxi service, Blink, on June 12. Blink's current flight plans take you through much of Western Europe and the the tickets are up to 25% more expensive than regular business-class travel for seats on their four-seater Cessna Citation Mustang. Blink is off to a healthy start, they've ordered 45 of Cessna jets and have received$30 million in investment which sounds like a lot but unfortunately a fledgling airline business dealing with today's fuel prices could go through that money pretty fast. Here's hoping the name Blink doesn't refer to how long they'll stay in business.

DayJet, one of the newer air taxi services has announced that they are planning to scale back their growth plan. Aero-News Network reports that the company, which operates a fleet of 28 Eclipse 500 very light jets, has cut back on jobs. The company has cited trouble with getting new investment capital due to the troubled economy as a reason for the revised business plan.

DayJet CEO Ed Iacobucci told ANN that overall DayJet's operations are strong and that the business model is sound but that the external factor of the general economic malaise has led to the scaleback. The Florida-based company has over 1,500 members with more than 550 active DayJet users. The company only officially launched in October 2007 but now needs more money to grow the business. The plan was to have a network of 30-50 aircraft serving 20-30 markets but this would have required $40 million in new operating capital in the first quarter of 2008. Unfortunately for many businesses needing cash no one is in a lending mood lately. Therefore the employees hired and trained with an eye toward expansion had to be let go.

DayJet isn't planning to curtail existing service region and plans to resume expansion plans once the money is available. But this news comes on the heels of the announcements of shuttering of Eos and MaxJet and it makes me wonder about the long-term viability of small jet businesses in general.

The Southeast has a new air taxi service. Imagine Air flies Cirrus SR22s out of Georgia to over 600 airports in the Southeast. Flight costs are based on scheduled mileage and there are no penalties for last minute bookings. They also sell pre-paid flight cards: Platinum for $50,000 that guarantees 20% off all flight, Gold for $20,000 that gives 15% off all flights, Silver for $8,000 with 10% off all flights and Bronze for $3,000 that offers 5% off all flights. You are charged only for the mileage in which you occupy the aircraft and every time you fly, the flight cost is deducted from your FlightCard balance. They also have a leaseback program if you are interested in plane ownership.The company plans to add Eclipse 500 planes in 2008.

[via General Aviation News]