Meet the team

Erik Kraaij (DJF) was trained as a Chef in the Carlton Hotel during the 1980′s. He has initially been involved in the business sector as a Hotelier, Bottle Store owner and Restaurateur. During the late 90′s he secured the rights of a King Pie franchise the Northern Natal area where after he opened 10 successful outlets in a period of two years. He was then approached by the franchisor at King Pie Head Office after which he moved to join as a shareholder and Operations Director of the King Pie Franchise Group in Pretoria. The King Pie Group was then sold to Rebhold which later merged with the Mvelaphanda group. Eric remained as Managing Director of King Pie for several years after which he moved to Royal Sechaba, also a company owned by Mvelaphanda group, at which he held the position of Strategic Investment Director responsible for various large companies owned by Royal Sechaba.

Erik has always had a passion for flying and he started his first pilot’s license as a Micro light pilot’s license in 2000, where after he progressed to fixed wing aircraft. During this time he purchased his first aircraft and started a charter business with Hennie Coetzee in 2004. Erik joined forces with Hennie on a full time basis during 2007.

Hennie Coetzee is the Managing Director and one of the founding members of FlyJetstream Aviation. He studied his B-com degree through the University of Pretoria where he obtained a degree in Aviation Management in 2001. He then trained to become a Commercial Pilot and he currently holds an Airline Transport License with a Grade 2 Instructors rating.

He has extensive flight experience ranging through a variety aircraft, and he has contributed tremendously in the growth of the company.

Henk Kraaij grew up in Pretoria where he attended Menlo Park Primary School where he became the head boy and in his matric year of 2005 he became the deputy head boy of Menlo Park High School. During his schooling years Henk was actively involved in various sport and culture activities of the school. It was during his standard eight year at school that Henk started with Sky Riders’ Flight School as a student to obtain his Microlight Pilot’s Licence which he achieved in 2004. He enrolled with the University of Pretoria on completion of his matric and studied to finally obtain his degree in Financial Management.

In 2006 he completed his microlight instructor’s licence and commenced giving microlight lessons daily from early morning until his classes at university started around nine every morning. Also during this time he bought his first microlight. Whilst in his first year at university Henk enrolled as a student pilot at Blue Chip Flight School to obtain his Private Pilot’s Licence which he managed to complete in less than three months. On completion of his degree at the end of 2009, he decided to join FlyJetstream Aviation where he manages the fleet of over 20 aircraft ensuring that the company’s aircraft documents are in order. When the opportunity presented itself to secure shares in Blue Chip Flight School, Henk purchased shares in the school. Presently he is involved on a full time basis at Blue Chip Flight School maximising on the experience and knowledge he obtained over the past four years. Henk’s passion is to grow the school to be one of the most sought after aviation training schools, where safety will never be compromised.

Ursula began her career in the aviation industry as a ground hostess at J.G.Strijdom airport in Windhoek, Namibia. She excelled in her position and played an important role in the investigation into the Boeing 707 accident ZS-EUW at Windhoek. Ursula then went onto fly for SAA as an air hostess and amassed 10 years of experience on the international routes. Over the same period also completed her Private Pilot’s License. Ursula has experience in various South African charter companies; she has been a part of the FlyJetstream Aviation group for the past eight years.

Chantelle has 7 years experience in the aviation industry. She started working for a well-known aviation company in 2004. She was quickly promoted to charter coordinator where she obtained her experience in customer service, flight coordinating, operations and marketing. In May 2011 she joined FlyJetstream as Marketing & Operations Manager.

Riana started with her commercial pilot license in 2007 and completed the course in 2008. She spent 2 years flying in Namibia building hours. She has good experience flying in Southern Africa.
She recently joined the FlyJetstream Marketing & Operations Team.

Alan joined the FlyJetstream Aviation team in 2008. He has obtained his BCom degree in Aviation Management and an Honours in Business Management. He is rated on 15 types of aircraft including the King Air 90, 200 and 1900.

Stephaan Bouwer

Alan Shaw

Hennie Coetzee

Riana Smith

Dawie Brits

Ben Steyn

Ernst Botha