Champagne And Caviar In Private At 30,000Ft

The glamorous world of private jets is no longer the domain of the super-rich. Private aviation is set to soar in Africa as business keeps checking in.

- Gypseenia Lion

Well-heeled women glide in and out of an opulent mansion in a leafy suburb in Sandton, Africa’s richest square mile.

The champagne-colored granite of the stairway meets the elegant tips of their Manolo Blahnik stilettos.

This is a medical aesthetic and holistic wellness center called Anti-Aging Art in the posh suburb in Johannesburg.

It is a home-turned-medical center belonging to Reza Mia, a doctor and coowner of the clinic patronized by the rich and famous. Mia also happens to design jets, as the founder and CEO of Pegasus Universal Aerospace, an aviation company based in South Africa with the sole purpose of creating innovative aviation solutions.

Between surgical facelifts and building sophisticated jets, Mia finally makes time for an interview at 5PM on a Friday afternoon.

Dressed in navy blue scrubs, he sits on a luxurious leather sofa as he tells FORBES AFRICA about his connection with aviation.

Mia is currently designing a vertical take-off jet that he says will add to the convenience of private travel.

The aesthetic surgeon has been developing the Pegasus One Vertical Business Jet (VBJ1) since 2012, which he says will be completed in three years.

It’s an attempt to revolutionize luxury air travel in South Africa.

“It can land and take off like a helicopter anywhere a helicopter could, in fact more places because it doesn’t have a spinning rotor blade and it is quieter especially for built-up areas and neighborhoods. It can accelerate and fly at the speed of a business jet which is almost 800km/h so that is about four times the speed of a helicopter,” he says.

Cool-air fan technology allows the jet to take off and land anywhere, he adds, which means it’s less hassle for customers.

Privacy and convenience count as currency in this business.