Like many executives of Bermuda's global reinsurers, Flagstone Re chairman Mark Byrne's job often involves flying to far-flung corners of the globe in a private jet.

Unlike most executives, however, Mr. Byrne often pilots the plane himself.

A self-confessed aviation fanatic, who started out learning how to fly gliders at age of 13, Mr. Byrne said: "I love to fly whenever I get the chance. I fly helicopters, light planes, gliders, everything."

With Flagstone having offices in Dubai, India, South Africa, Puerto Rico, Canada, the UK and Switzerland, an effective way of getting around is of major importance to the company chairman.

Mr. Byrne has turned business travel into an outlet for his passion for aviation by piloting aircraft leased by Flagstone from Longtail Aviation, a Bermuda-based private plane operator founded by Mr. Byrne.

On Thursday, he flew seven colleagues in Longtail's Flacon 900 12-seater jet to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where Flagstone has offices.

"It would be impossible to have the business strategy Flagstone has if you had to use commercial airlines all the time," Mr. Byrne said. "Travelling by private plane is actually the most cost-effective way for us to get around."

The Falcon is the pride of Longtail's fleet of four aircraft. At its Bermuda base, where it works out of a huge former Nato hangar at L.F. Wade International Airport, it has a smaller, six-seater Westwind II light aircraft and a turboprop King Air 350, which can accommodate eight to ten people. It also has a turboprop King Air 200, based in Sion, Switzerland.

Founded in 1999, Longtail was the first carrier to earn an operating licence from the Bermuda Department of Civil Aviation in more than 40 years. This month, Longtail reached a significant milestone with the award of Platinum rating from Aviation Research Group/US Inc. (ARG/US), the top specialised aviation information research and analytics body.

The Platinum rating, attained by just 62 of 2,400 charter operators, is the highest-level safety audit rating awarded in the private aviation industry and is widely recognised as the ultimate validation of excellence in operational practices and flight safety standards.

For Mr. Byrne, that high standard is one of the factors that means private jet travel makes sound business sense.

"First, you can control the quality," he said. "Longtail Aviation has just received its ARG/US Platinum award.

"Second, leasing our own aircraft allows us to have a flexible schedule. I can take a plane to South Africa and leave it there for a week and then go to India and leave it there for a week as well. That way I can get to spend some real quality time with colleagues in those places.

"Thirdly, because Longtail has reached Platinum level, we know a lot about the top range of aviation safety standards, which helps us in our aviation underwriting and the quality of the questions we can ask."

This month has also seen Longtail receive the Canadian Foreign Air Operator Certificate from Transport Canada, allowing the carrier to conduct paid public charters to and from Canada.

As of May this year, Longtail also developed the capability of converting its Westwind II light aircraft to perform air ambulance services for Bermuda emergency airlift. Although this is not a core business, Longtail is working with Bermuda Air Medevac to provide back-up for their operation.

Also in May, Longtail was celebrated at the European Business Aviation Exposition for being the first and only international operator to have received the Gold Plus distinction with ARG/US. Weeks later, the carrier went one step better and gained the Platinum award.

Longtail's head of flight operations Marty Amick said that next year the company would add to its fleet a Falcon 7X, described as the most advanced corporate aircraft in the world. It is fuel efficient, has an enhanced vision system and could fly non-stop to Tokyo — an attractive selling point for international business executives.

Mr. Amick, like Mr. Byrne, a qualified pilot, said Longtail's customer base went beyond just major international businesses.

"We also fly movie stars and well-known people in and out — the fact that we are less visible than the airlines is an attraction to them, plus the airlines could never offer the kind of comfort and convenience that we can," Mr. Amick said.

"Also we get groups of people sometimes wanting to hire the plane for a flight to the Caribbean as a birthday treat for someone. We had one woman whose husband bought her a trip to St. Maarten. She had no idea. She just got to the airport, we met her and put her on the plane where her friends were waiting on the aircraft."

A return trip to St. Maarten on the Falcon 900 over a weekend would cost in the region of $35,000, Mr. Amick said, meaning a group of 12 could go for less than $3,000 each.

Corporate travellers make up Longtail's core business, however, and while the cost might seem expensive to the average individual, many executives considered privately chartered jets as the most cost-effective way to do it, Mr. Amick said.

"If someone wants to travel to five cities in a week, it might cost them $120,000," Mr. Amick said. "But if the aim of that trip is to raise $50 million, then the travel cost seems insignificant. There's no cheaper way for them to do it."