IIBN - International Irish Business Network

On 17th November over 130 IIBN members got to hear about the inside story of CityJet from its Chairman and CEO who are two of the most respected individuals in the aviation industry.

The event offered a rare opportunity to hear about the remarkable CityJet story from its founder, Pat Byrne and its CEO, Geoffrey O’Byrne White.

Pat Byrne is a Dublin based businessman who has spent his career building and sustaining successful commercial medium sized enterprises in the highly competitive sectors of financial services, international airlines and IT. He founded the Irish airline, CityJet which he ran as CEO for seven years. Pat remains connected with the airline through his role of non-executive chairman. Pat has also wrote the book, ‘Fuelled by Belief’, which achieved critical acclaim in the media and was well received by the business community and aviation watchers when it was published in 2004. Pat now acts as a corporate rainmaker to business managers through his company, Rainmaker Business Catalysts.

Next up was Geoffrey O’Byrne White. Chief Executive Officer of CityJet since 2000, the Dublin-based subsidiary of Air France, Geoffrey has over 30 years’ experience in the aviation industry. Starting his career as a pilot with the Irish Air Corps, O’Byrne White advanced to the top.

Geoffrey note that in the last 9 years with CityJet, the airline group has grown from operating 5 Bae 146 jet aircraft to a combined fleet of 40 Avro RJ85 and Fokker 50 aircraft.

In 2008 CityJet acquired the Belgian business airline VLM, with the combined entity now accounting for 54% of London City airport slots capacity. Under the CityJet brand it is now positioning itself as London’s Business Airline.

Much to everyones surprise, the event concluded with Pat and Geoffrey giving away 20 free flights to attendees and guests present.

Special thanks to Davies Arnold Cooper LLP who generously hosted the event at their headquarters in the City of London.