Air Partner has disclosed the top 10 cities for private air charter and predicted that new entrants will be joining the league this year as destinations such as Sardinia in Italy gear up to cater for the MICE market. There are no surprises among the top five: London, Frankfurt, Paris, Geneva and Zurich. Next come Edinburgh, Amsterdam, then, increasingly, Madrid, Dublin and Stockholm. Dublin is a relatively new and increasingly popular city, especially on the conference and incentive circuit, while Moscow is also…
Air Partner has disclosed the top 10 cities for private air charter and predicted that new entrants will be joining the league this year as destinations such as Sardinia in Italy gear up to cater for the MICE market.
There are no surprises among the top five: London, Frankfurt, Paris, Geneva and Zurich. Next come Edinburgh, Amsterdam, then, increasingly, Madrid, Dublin and Stockholm. Dublin is a relatively new and increasingly popular city, especially on the conference and incentive circuit, while Moscow is also on the radar, but mainly for stand-alone business trips. As it is more ‘remote,’ conference and meeting planners tend to bolt on private flights to scheduled services to save money, Air Partner notes.
Air Partner Sales Director David Macdonald highlights that flying privately is becoming more and more affordable with the arrival of new Very Light Jets (VLJs) that are starting to debut in the UK and Europe. Throughout 2009 Air Partner UK saw a steady pick up of first time users calling to enquire about these aircraft. “Savvy air travellers with short range needs want to fly them. Everyone likes to fly an aircraft that is brand new, with that fresh leather smell.”
The trend of 2009 continues whereby executives flying on business are chartering jets closer to the travel time, says Macdonald. During the Christmas and New Year period with the threat of strike action by British Airways, Eurostar breaking down and weeks of unprecedented snowfall throughout much of the UK Air Partner was inundated arranging the dispatch of private aircraft back for executives stranded – either on holiday with family or stuck at a hub airport on business with all scheduled flights home cancelled.
Another factor boosting the move to ad hoc private charter has come from the large corporations. Those who have already experienced the time-saving benefits of flying privately but were required to sell the chief executive’s company jet when the economic crisis struck, or are having to extricate themselves from costly, inflexible and restrictive fractional ownership contracts, remain convinced of the value of a private jet as a business tool. Such companies have turned to ad hoc charter or flexible jet card programmes, such as Air Partner’s JetCard. With JetCard, flight hours never expire and unused hours are fully refundable upon request. The card fee structure is transparent and incorporates fixed hourly rates with no fuel or landing surcharges or positioning fees and provides access to the broadest range of aircraft with an average age of just four years.
“The success of long range business jets such as the Gulfstream G550 and Bombardier Global Express that can fly non-stop from London to Tokyo or Johannesburg has made the greatest impact on aiding global travel over the past decade for high flying business executives,” says David Macdonald. “We are pleased to say that today there is a healthy availability of these jets flying today for those who can afford it.”
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
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