HIGH FLYERS

In trying times such as these, business jets seem more attractive than ever, guaranteeing the privacy, luxury, reliability and flexibility that well-heeled travellers are increasingly willing to invest in. STEPHANIE IP finds out from the experts at VistaJet World and Jet Luxe how flying private is taking over

- STEPHANIE IP

Once upon a time, travel was bliss. Nowadays for many it’s a distant dream – and for those who’ve stepped aboard a commercial flight in the past two years, it’s an utter nightmare. But for private aviation the pandemic has proved to be something of a boon. People’s appetite for travel isn’t going anywhere and as Covid drags on, their desire to escape the day-to-day mundanity only grows stronger. For this reason, many have turned to flying private – and they haven’t turned back since.

Data drawn from FlightAware saw total global flights plummeting in March 2020, with most categories excepting business aviation at 50 percent lower than previous years. Moreover, it was the private industry – classed as flights that are neither commercial nor cargo services – that bounced back quickest, returning to 85 to 90 percent of previous volume by July 2020.

Ian Moore, chief commercial officer at VistaJet World, says, “What’s happened with commercial versus private has been sort of polar opposites. One of the reasons is because commercial routes around the world have been decimated and still haven’t come close to recovering, particularly in places like Hong Kong. Private jets have really picked up the slack and connected the world again. The cost of flying an aircraft with eight passengers for us in relative terms is significantly cheaper than flying a 200-250 passenger aircraft with only five or six passengers on it.”