Europe was always going to be a harder market for air taxi operators to crack than the US. Distances are shorter, ground transport speedier and more plentiful. And while airports that can take jets are less plentiful than in the southern states of the US, for example, fears were raised by the European authorities of overcrowded skies.

So when DayJet, the Florida-based air taxi start-up with the biggest plans, was forced to close its doors in September after it failed to raise funds, European operators with business models that envisaged fewer passengers were nervous.