Founded by two graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Yellow provides flexible air services with aircraft allowing to avoid congested and expensive airports.
According to Belgian financial newspaper L’Echo, the tarmac at Liege Airport will soon welcome a new airline active in business aviation. Yellow comes to life at the initiative of Yves Legrain (38) and Karl Beuken (32), both graduates of the Royal Military Academy and former officers in Special Forces and intelligence divisions of the Belgian Army. They intend to meet the needs of businesses, mainly SMEs, in effective air transport without loss of time.
“Liege Airport is the perfect platform to do this. It is an airport open 24/24, there is quick access to the aircraft and a good geographical location,” explains Yves Legrain, co-founder and CEO of Yellow.
The project was presented Thursday to several businessmen during a reception at Liege Airport. According to the two bosses, their start-up fits perfectly with the intent of the Management of Liege Airport to make business aviation one of their areas of development.
“We offer business leaders to save time, we also provide them with an airplane type – the PC-12 – manufactured by the Swiss company Pilatus Aircraft – known worldwide for its performance, reliability and operational capabilities,” adds Karl Beuken, co-founder and managing director of Yellow. He received his wings and is certified for flight on the PC-12, a single engine aircraft. He currently flies for Fly Seven, a Swiss partner company that offers the same service at Lausanne with a fleet of 13 PC-12.
The selected aircraft can fly in all weather. It especially allows to avoid major expensive and congested airports and destinations that business jets can not reach due to lack of equipment or the condition of the track (grass, short, earth). Over 1,300 PC-12 are in operation worldwide. Yellow is the only operator in the Benelux to own a commercial PC-12 operating licence from the EASA European agency. It offers 8 passenger seats, but can be easily changed into a cargo version or medical evacuation aircraft.
The goal is to start in April with a PC12 (already present) and assembling a fleet of 3 aircraft in 2018. The financial plan provides the balance within 3 years.
