Source: Jeff Clabaugh, WTOP News
Annapolis, Maryland-based aviation startup AeroVanti, which launched its membership-based private charter flight service last summer, has raised $9.75 million from investors to expand its business.

AeroVanti founder Patrick Britton-Harr, a pilot who knew mainstream charter and timeshare air travel companies were charging more than needed, has built the AeroVanti model to bring down the price to fly.

“It is really about being able to introduce the consumer to a palatable way to travel but not as costly as what other providers charge, like $6,400 an hour for a King Air 350,” Britton-Harr said. “We are at $2,495 per hour, and we fly 10,000 feet higher at 115 mph faster than those aircraft that are in the competition for us.”

The fleet includes fuel-efficient Piaggio P180 Avanti twin turboprop planes, an aircraft that is faster than other turboprops and many midsized private jets. It also includes Learjet 31 aircraft and a Gulfstream G3.