Airbus corporate jet center lands in Miami - by Brian Bandell
Airbus has opened its first corporate jetliner sales center outside France in Miami as its aims for a takeoff in executive and private sales in North America. The sales center is inside its pilot training center near Miami International Airport. Prospective buyers can tour a mockup of the interior of an Airbus Corporate Jetliner (ACJ) that resembles a penthouse suite and check out the same flight simulators the pilots use to see how it flies compared to smaller jets.
The opening in Miami signals Airbus' push into a North American corporate market that's dominated in large jets by Gulfstream, Bombardier and Falcon. Airbus sold 15 corporate jets in 2005 and 13 in the first half of 2006, including its first sale to a company in the United States: Miami-based Pharmair Corp., which is owned by Ivax founder and former CEO Phillip Frost, according to the Florida Division of Corporations.
"We expect to make much better inroads into this country," Airbus marketing director David Velupillai said. "It's much better than the other top-of-the-line business jets, and we just haven't gotten the message out well enough."
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