The pilot behind the website
Every private jet website says "our team of experts". Very few will tell you who actually answers the phone. This one will.
Who you're dealing with
I'm a commercial pilot based in Buckinghamshire, a short drive from Oxford Kidlington. I fly the Cessna Citation X — one of the fastest purpose-built business jets available for charter — and I built Ben Aviation because the gap between the person selling a private jet and the person flying it had become absurd.
When you enquire here, the reply comes from someone who has sat in the seat, flown the sector, and dealt with the slot, the handler and the weather. Not someone reading a specification sheet back to you.
Experience
Flying the Citation X in commercial charter operation, alongside contract pilot work, ferry flights and aircraft management support for private owners and operators.
The unglamorous half of private aviation, and the half that decides whether your trip works: slots, parking, handling, crew duty and realistic timings.
LAA and BMAA approved inspector and Rotax iRMT certified. Unusual for a jet pilot, and it means I can tell you what I'm looking at on the ramp rather than reading you the tech log.
Most of general aviation, in both directions — buying, inspecting, maintaining and selling light aircraft, as well as flying them. The range is the point.
Why Ben Aviation exists
A typical private jet booking passes through a broker who has never seen the aircraft, quoting an operator they have never met, flown by a crew they cannot name. Each link adds a margin and removes a little more knowledge.
Ben Aviation shortens the chain. You describe the trip to a pilot, get an answer grounded in what the aircraft will actually do on the day, and deal with the same person from the first message to the flight itself.
That's not a marketing position. It's simply what happens when the person answering your enquiry is also the person in the left seat.
Ready when you are
Route, date and how many of you there are is enough for a firm quote — usually the same day.