CLEARWATER, Fla., Feb. 22, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Avantair, Inc. (OTCBB:AAIR), the industry leader for fractional aircraft ownership and flight hour time cards in the light jet cabin category and the only publicly traded stand-alone private aircraft operator, has introduced the Axis Lease Program, a client friendly, cost conscious fractional ownership lease program. The new plan offers a minimum two-year lease term and is available in 25 hour increments starting at 50 hours per year. Introductory pricing is available until June 30, 2011.
"Our Axis Lease Program offers lower upfront costs and no residual risk while providing all the benefits of fractional ownership," said Steven Santo, founder and CEO of Avantair. "We've listened to the marketplace and surveyed our customers. Their feedback was clear and our solution is the Axis Lease Program. Based on what we learned, we've made fractional ownership more financially accessible and less daunting by reducing clients' initial spend and removing financial risk. We continue to focus on improving our private travel options, and the ability of owners and individuals to select plans that best suit their private travel needs. We believe the Axis Lease Program accomplishes this goal by complementing our existing Edge Card and fractional ownership service offerings. The Axis Lease Program makes owning fractional shares easier than ever and we believe this will be reflected in our expected accelerating fractional ownership sales this year."
The program's introductory pricing requires a monthly management fee and lease payment of $13,150, plus the federal excise tax (FET). Incidentals are included in that price, and fuel is billed separately on a per flight basis.
The service area for the Axis Lease Program is identical to that of a fractional ownership program, including the 48 contiguous states and several international destinations as well. The new program now complements Avantair's Edge Card – the industry's most cost effective 15 or 25 hour time cards – and Fractional Ownership, featuring the industry's lowest hourly operating costs.
The Axis Lease Program replaces the Axis Club Membership, which offered a one-time low membership fee with access to 25-hour blocks of flight time.
About Avantair
Avantair, the sole North American provider of fractional shares, flight time cards and Axis Club Membership in the Piaggio Avanti aircraft, and the only publicly traded stand-alone private aircraft operator, is headquartered in Clearwater, FL, with approximately 450 employees. The Company offers private travel solutions for individuals and businesses traveling within its service area, which includes the continental United States, Canada, the Caribbean and Mexico, at a fraction of the cost of whole aircraft ownership. The Company currently manages a fleet of 55 aircraft, with another 52 Piaggio Avanti aircraft on order through 2013. For more information about Avantair, please visit: .
Forward Looking Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, with respect to Avantair's future financial or business performance, strategies and expectations. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words or phrases such as "trend," "potential," "opportunity," "pipeline," "believe," "comfortable," "expect," "anticipate," "current," "intention," "estimate," "position," "assume," "outlook," "continue," "remain," "maintain," "sustain," "seek," "achieve," and similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "would," "should," "could," "may" and similar expressions. Avantair cautions that forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties, which change over time. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and Avantair assumes no duty to and does not undertake to update forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements and future results could differ materially from historical performance.
In addition to factors previously disclosed in Avantair's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and those as may be identified elsewhere in this press release, the following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements or historical performance: general economic and business conditions in the U.S. and abroad, changing interpretations of generally accepted accounting principles, changes in market acceptance of the company's products, inquiries and investigations and related litigation, fluctuations in customer demand, management of rapid growth, intensity of competition. The information set forth herein should be read in light of such risks. Avantair does not assume any obligation to update the information contained in this press release.
Avantair's filings with the SEC, accessible on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov, discuss these factors in more detail and identify additional factors that can affect forward-looking statements.
CONTACT: Company Contact: Heather Dynes 440.639.2773 hdynes@avantair.com Media contact: Caroline Sherman 312.245.9805 caroline@alpaytac.com Investor Relations Contact: Brandi Floberg 212-481-2050 aair@tpg-ir.com