Empire Aviation Group teams up with Booking.com to offer luxury hotel reservations worldwide.

Empire Aviation Group (EAG), the Dubaibased private aviation company and operator of the region`s largest managed fleet of private jets, has formed an affiliation with Booking.com to allow private jet charter clients, travelling on business or for leisure, to search and reserve online luxury hotels at preferential rates. Clients logging onto Lifestyle@Empire – a new operating division and an extension of EAG`s existing private jet charter operations – can now search Booking.com`s database of 78,000 hotels in 76 countries, including independent, luxury boutique properties and international 5-star hotel chains. The service is available in 31 languages. Booking.com is one of the world`s leading online hotel reservations agencies by room nights sold, attracting many millions of unique visitors each month via the Internet from both leisure and business markets worldwide. More than 115,000 room nights are booked every day through the service. Caron Gledhill, Director of Corporate Affairs, Empire Aviation Group, comments: `Convenience is an important component of the service we provide to our private jet charter clients, and our affiliation with Booking.com reflects this. Our new Lifestyle@Empire division offers a unique range of bespoke travel packages for discerning clients in the Middle East, with VIP access to some of the world`s most exciting destinations and activities. Now, we can offer the simplicity and convenience of online luxury hotel reservations to complement this service, putting the client in control of the process, which is where they want to be. The timing is also excellent as charter sales continue to recover.` According to Empire Aviation Group, the regional market for business jet charter is continuing to recover; the company posted another month of strong charter demand in January 2010, with an 11% increase in charter sales. This follows a strong recovery in October-December (Q4) 2009, after charter bookings for the company dropped in the first half of 2009. Lifestyle@Empire has been designed to complement and capitalise on EAG`s fast growing charter fleet, which currently totals more than 20 jet aircraft – the largest managed fleet of private jets in the region – many of which are made available to the charter market. Lifestyle@Empire provides a range of services to clients including private jet charter, luxury ground transfers, hotel accommodation, and activities from sporting events to exclusive soirees, restaurant tastings with personalized menus and nightclub access with table service and accompanying staff. From skiing in the Andes or St Moritz, to time on members-only golf courses, parties on notable private yachts and supercar test drives with the cars` designers and engineers, Lifestyle@Empire provides highly personalised luxury travel services through partner JetSet Elite`s global connections.