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What is the difference between a fully
guided air tour and a concierge service?
Just ask Thierry Pouille, who along with
his wife Sophie, has amassed more than 50
combined years of travel industry expertise.
The husband and wife business team offers
general aviation pilots a variety of aerial
globe-trekking adventures via their company
Air Journey. After years in the travel business,
Thierry and Sophie decided to launch the
company in 1998 and focus on specializing
in providing guided airplane trips of a
lifetime. People with a private plane want
to go where only private airplanes can go,
is a well known phrase of Thierry's.
Air Journey operates as a fully licensed
travel agency and is specialized not only
on private airplane journeys but also on
planning special events such as cruises
and family reunions. Sophie assists clients
in the land-based arrangements and Thierry
with the technical flying details. With
more than 100 countries visited, the couple's
travel knowledge adds their personal touch
to make an Air Journey unique and memorable.
The Pouille's small staff takes care of
all trip planning, including visas, insurance,
finding maintenance facilities if needed,
and more. An experienced trip leader accompanies
the fleet and briefs the pilots before every
flight.
Having
Fun for a Living
Thierry loves what he does for a living,
and his lust for flying and adventure, plus
the demand from his clientele, keeps him
designing and perfecting new trips all the
time. After plenty of research, long-distance
phone conversations and countless emails,
Thierry flies his BE55 Baron on a dry run
of every trip before he offers it to anyone
else. That way, nothing is left to chance,
and even the tiniest details are caught.
And even while his guests are enjoying themselves,
Thierry is constantly working in the background
via emails and countless phone calls. Along
the way, Thierry also enlists an army of
local guides to maximize every bit of information
and a memorable experience from each location.
As a general rule, Air Journey trips
move at a leisurely pace. The group stops
at each destination for two or three days,
allowing plenty of time to sightsee, fish,
hike, take canopy tours, ride bicycles or
ATVs, or go sailing or snorkeling. Thierry
maintains a leisurely pace where flying
into or near bad weather is a no-no and
early-morning departures are considered
taboo.
The destinations are varied with one
as exotic as the next. From a luxury hotel
in the middle of the 500-year-old city of
Antigua, Guatemala to crossing parts of
the North Atlantic Ocean on the way to an
aerial swing through Europe. In fact, the
newest Air Journey destinations include
a 26-day trip from Key West, Fla., all the
way down around Cape Horn in South America,
and an Atlantic crossing, via Greenland
and Iceland, to Europe for the Paris Air
Show.
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Around
The World
Thierry has led all sorts of aerial trips
including adventures to around South America
in 35 days, and a 24-day Europe trip, so
flying around the world seemed like the
next challenge. His company recently announced
the new trip and six of the nine slots are
already taken. The trip will depart from
New York in May 2008 and proceed to the
west for 23,000 nm. Most legs will average
600 miles or so and Thierry wants to take
time to visit and enjoy the featured destinations.
Events along the way will include a camel
ride in Libya, a cruise along the Nile,
snow skiing in Dubai, and a candlelit dinner
on the Great Wall in China. Most nights
will be spent in high-end hotels except
in the Aleutian Islands, where the only
accommodations are military barracks. The
trip will arrive in Oshkosh, Wis., in July
2008, just in time for EAA AirVenture.
Thierry and Sophie Pouille demonstrate
how aviation careers can vary from the traditional
airline perspective. Running your own air
tour company is a lot of work but as Thierry
will attest that it's too much fun to ever
consider leaving behind. To learn more about
Thierry and his innovative aviation business,
we invite you to watch this week's video
feature. We talk with Thierry during one
of his favorite trips: The Bahamas Treasure
Hunt. It is a stunning adventure for private
pilots to visit the Bahamian islands of
Abaco, Long Island, Grand Bahama Island
and all stops in between.
We hope this video clip inspires you
to seek your own passion. You never know,
you might just follow Thierry's footsteps
with a non-traditional aviation career path.
Enjoy!
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