Founded

2011

Headquarters

London

Key People

Steve Varsano, president

Number of Employees

10

Phone Number

(917) 414-1995 (U.S.)

Website

The Jet Business

The Jet Business

A London-based private aircraft sales and acquisition brokerage, The Jet Business operates what it says is the world’s first street-level corporate aircraft showroom. It features a full-size Airbus Corporate Jet ACJ319 interior mockup and a 26-foot video wall.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, company founder Steve Varsano spent his first decade after graduating from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in aircraft sales jobs in the U.S. He then went to work for one of his clients, activist investor Nelson Peltz, and followed him through a series of U.S. and European corporate acquisitions in the late 1980s and early 1990s. 

In 1993 Varsano founded his own merger and acquisition company, Atlantis 2000 Group, which focused on the real estate, aviation, and restaurant sectors. Beginning in 2003, he spent three years as head of business development in Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States for fast-food conglomerate Yum! Brands.

Inspired by the idea for a private aircraft showroom, Varsano returned to aircraft brokering in 2006 and spent the next five years developing the concept and searching for the most suitable location. He hired full-time IT staff and set up his first street-level private jet showroom in 2011 at Hyde Park Corner in London’s Knightsbridge district. 

Aimed at the large-cabin and ultra-long-range aircraft market, The Jet Business’s 2011 showroom contained the full-size ACJ319 cabin mock-up complete with leather chairs costing $40,000 each, a pop-up video screen, a bar, space at the back for a bedroom, and other posh amenities. A video wall driven by a bespoke iPad application allowed customers to compare life-size details of various aircraft cabin designs, dimensions, and seating arrangements.

In 2014, the company reportedly handled 24 airplane and helicopter transactions worth a total of more than $500 million.

To make way for a new hotel, The Jet Business’ showroom—including the ACJ319 cabin mock-up—moved about a quarter mile north to Park Lane in 2016. The newer showroom’s video wall can display full-size schematics of any of the 146 models of private jet aircraft available in the world for purchase; customers can “walk” the cabin configurations to compare and contrast models. 

Still run by the iPad app—in its 12th iteration and continuously being updated—the video wall can also provide range maps of aircraft models and operating cost comparisons between nearly any two cities in the world. Once the best aircraft model is identified, a team of salespeople assist in all phases of the aircraft search and acquisition process.