13 September 2006
Air charter firms are reporting a boom in business in the wake of the recent foiled bomb plot on aircraft flying to the US.
One company – US-based Imperial jets – has reported a 107 percent rise in weekly inquiries since the discovery of the ‘plot’ and the delays and inconvenience that it brought in its wake.
It’s a trend towards small-scale chartering which was predicted immediately following 9/11 (when one VLJ – very light jet – company reported order for over 1,000 aircraft) and which runs contrary to the view at the other end of the industry, where the A380 Super Jumbo is seen as the way to go. This month’s <b><i>FLYER</i></b> (due out next week) includes the annual Light Aircraft Directory, and for the first time it features a couple of such jets. Their price has now come down to a level at which they are competitive with the top-end single-engine turbojets – and that affects their available-for-charter price.
With important light aircraft names such as Diamond and Piper – as well as start-ups like Eclipse – coming into the VLJ market (Cessna, of course, is already there with the bottom end of its Citation range), it seems like it’s a market which will be booming in the coming years. The business model on which the expected boom is based is the long-distance ‘air taxi’ one. With airline safety in question, longer check-in times and stricter luggage rules, more and more people are likely to start taking the option to charter a jet either with or without crew (VLJs can typically transport 4-6 people, and are designed to be flown by a suitably qualified, not necessarily professional, pilot), to be flown when and where they want (rather than to somewhere ‘nearby’ within a day or two of the ideal.
According to Imperial, the UK is particularly ripe for charter at the moment. The first weekend in September was the US Labor Day holiday. According to Forbes magazine, that weekend saw a 40% rise in charter flights, with 37% of those originating in the UK.
Once upon a time personal private jets were a dream. Now it looks like the time might be right for them to become a reality.
<a href=’http://www.imperialjets.com/’ target=’_blank’>Imperial Jets</a>
<a href=’http://www.cessna.com’ target=’_blank’>Cessna</a>
<a href=’http://www.eclipseaviation.com’ target=’_blank’>Cessna</a>
