Company Says It Gives On-Demand Carrier A Leg-Up

Rule number one for starting an airline, regardless of size: start with money. A LOT of money... and DayJet announced Tuesday it has received $50 million in capital, resulting from the completion of its third round of private equity financing. The company says this latest round of investment provides DayJet with the capital required to launch its on-demand air taxi service in the second quarter of 2007.

Combined with the proceeds of earlier funding rounds, DayJet also tells ANN this transaction places the company among the best capitalized pre-operational passenger air carriers in US aviation history... and the largest in the on-demand sector. The majority of Series C securities were placed with new investors, including eight institutions and private equity funds as well as numerous individuals.

Private equity investors from outside of the United States were also part of the investor group. Raymond James & Associates, Inc. served as financial advisor to DayJet, and certain affiliates of Raymond James also participated as investors in the offering. The capital raised in this round will be used to finalize the development of the company’s infrastructure and systems, hire and train the launch teams, and support the roll-out of DayJet’s “Per-Seat, On-Demand” regional flight operations across Florida and the Southeast.

"This funding is the keystone to the operational launch of our 'Per-Seat, On-Demand' jet service," said Ed Iacobucci, president and CEO of DayJet. "With the necessary capital now in place, we are just months away from delivering regional business travelers something they have never had -- accessible and affordable mobility between difficult-to-reach regional destinations."

Headquartered in Delray Beach, FL, DayJet intends to begin operations later this year, utilizing the Eclipse 500 very light jet.

FMI: www.dayjet.com