Here at MEBA yesterday aircraft brokerage Boutsen Aviation (Stand 598) announced the sale of its 250th airplane, completed last week. “This is a big achievement for us,” said Thierry Boutsen, president of the Monaco-based sales firm and a former Formula 1 racecar driver, who founded the company in 1997 with his wife Daniela.
“We’ve sold 50 different models of airplanes in 49 different countries on five continents,” Boutsen told AIN. “Our first sale was a Piper Cheyenne II, for $275,000, and our 250th is a VVIP Airbus Corporate Jet, with a value of over $100 million.”
In addition to its impressive sales totals, the couple is also touting Boutsen Design, the company’s new design department, here at MEBA. Established last year and headed by Daniela, Boutsen Design provisions aircraft cabins with interior furnishings, or “loose equipment,” such as china, crystal, cutlery, table and bed linen, and other accessories or amenities that do not require certification. “There’s no one else in the aviation business dedicated to loose equipment,” she said. “What I’m doing is the final touch. Our aim is to become the one-stop shop for cabin comfort.”
The first project the company took on was an Airbus Corporate Jet undergoing completion, working hand-in-hand with the completion center to ensure the cabin furnishings and built-ins worked in harmony. Working with clients purchasing aircraft, as well as completion centers and business aircraft owners, Boutsen Design has apparently established relationships with more than 60 prestige brands.
Clients receive a link to a secure web site with an inventory of all the items purchased, enabling them to reorder quickly any items after delivery. The company prewashes all linens, and stocks the aircraft with items from pizza cutters and scissors to aprons, so the aircraft is ready for use upon delivery. Myriad small touches ensure the cabin always looks its best. For example, the labels on tablecloths note which table they are paired with, ensuring cabin attendants can easily match the linen with its appropriate place.
As for its pre-owned aircraft sales arm, the company has a Dassault Falcon 7x for sale on static display here, priced at about $39 million. “We’re open to offers,” said Thierry Boutsen.
With more than $1.2 billion in total sales, he attributes the success of the company to “experience in international transactions and our knowledge of the market with its daily moves.” Meanwhile, the sales total has already climbed. “It’s number 251,” he said. “We sold a helicopter this week, a [Eurocopter] EC 135.” o