CLEARWATER, Fla., April 22, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Avantair Inc. (OTCBB:AAIR), the only publicly traded stand-alone fractional operator and the sole North American provider of fractional shares in the Piaggio Avanti aircraft, announced today that it will celebrate Earth Day 2009 with its annual tradition of offsetting five flight hours of carbon emissions for all new fractional share owners with TerraPass, a leading originator and retailer of carbon credits and carbon offsets. Avantair was the first fractional provider to "go green" by partnering with a carbon offset company, utilizing TerraPass and its Flight TerraPass program to offset aircraft emissions.
Avantair leads the fractional share industry as its lowest carbon emitter by virtue of its role as the exclusive fractional, card and membership provider of the Piaggio Avanti, the most efficient of all fractional aircraft with a fuel burn of approximately 98 gallons per hour. By purchasing Flight TerraPass offsets for its new owners, Avantair advances their desire to safeguard the environment.
Avantair Senior Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing Matthew Doyle stated, "The fuel efficiency of the Piaggio Avanti is an important benefit we deliver to our owners and with TerraPass, we extend our efforts to minimize their carbon footprint and ours. We are pleased to continue our partnership with TerraPass this Earth Day as we progress towards our shared goal to become a carbon neutral society."
TerraPass funds three types of leading-edge projects: (1) clean energy such as wind; (2) farm power such as dairy farm methane digesters; and (3) Landfill gas capture which reduces the impact of society's waste. To date, TerraPass already has enabled the avoidance of over 1 billion pounds of CO2 pollution and empowered people and businesses with more than 150,000 TerraPass offsets.
"Increasingly, businesses and individuals are recognizing that their daily behavior impacts all of our futures," said Erik Blachford, chief executive officer of TerraPass. "Thanks to companies like Avantair and its commitment to the environment, we are making progress towards reducing carbon emissions and raising awareness among businesses and consumers that they can take individual actions to advance that effort."
About Avantair
Avantair, the only publicly traded stand-alone fractional operator and the sole North American provider of fractional shares in the Piaggio Avanti aircraft, is headquartered in Clearwater, FL, with approximately 400 employees. The Company offers private travel solutions for individuals and businesses traveling within its service area, which includes the continental United States, Canada, the Caribbean and Mexico, at a fraction of the cost of whole aircraft ownership. The Company currently manages a fleet of 52 aircraft, with another 57 Piaggio Avanti aircraft on order through 2013. For more information about Avantair, please visit: http://www.avantair.com.
About TerraPass
Launched in 2004, TerraPass.com works with developers of greenhouse gas reduction projects to bring to market verified carbon credits. The company is a leading retailer of carbon offsets and consumer energy efficiency products. Individuals, families and businesses who are balancing out the global warming impact of their flying, driving and home and office energy use have collectively made more than 150,000 purchases of carbon offsets from TerraPass and its partners. Together, TerraPass carbon offsets have funded reductions of over 1 billion pounds of carbon dioxide emissions, the primary cause of climate change. TerraPass works with clean energy and carbon emissions reduction projects throughout the U.S., including wind power, farm power, and landfill gas capture. 100% of TerraPass carbon credits are verified against a broadly accepted standard by independent third party verifies. For more information, visit www.terrapass.com.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, with respect to Avantair's future financial or business performance, strategies and expectations. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words or phrases such as "trend," "potential," "opportunity," "pipeline," "believe," "comfortable," "expect," "anticipate," "current," "intention," "estimate," "position," "assume," "outlook," "continue," "remain," "maintain," "sustain," "seek," "achieve," and similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "would," "should," "could," "may" and similar expressions. Avantair cautions that forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties, which change over time. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and Avantair assumes no duty to and does not undertake to update forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements and future results could differ materially from historical performance.
In addition to factors previously disclosed in Avantair's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and those as may be identified elsewhere in this press release, the following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements or historical performance: general economic and business conditions in the U.S. and abroad, changing interpretations of generally accepted accounting principles, changes in market acceptance of the company's products, inquiries and investigations and related litigation, fluctuations in customer demand, management of rapid growth, intensity of competition. The information set forth herein should be read in light of such risks. Avantair does not assume any obligation to update the information contained in this press release.
Avantair's filings with the SEC, accessible on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov, discuss these factors in more detail and identify additional factors that can affect forward-looking statements.