Private jets I 47T
here’s a tiny, twin-
engine aircraft waiting
for me on the tarmac.
Inside, a luxury cream
interior holds just four
leather seats. I sit back, relax, and
think: “So this is what it’s like to
fly on a private jet.”
Except I’m not about to fly
anywhere. I’m grounded in a
hangar at Hong Kong International
Airport for an inspection of the
new 13-metre Honda Jet on its
debut appearance in the city.
I bring out my smartphone and
type “Honda Jet cost” into the
search bar – US$4.5 million. And
just like that, my dreams of VIP
travel dissolve.
However, for many high-end
business travellers, flying on
a private jet is starting to get
tantalisingly close to reality.
“Owning a business jet is more
accessible now because of all the
options business travellers now
have: they can charter, become a
fractional owner, or buy their own
private jet,” says Luciano Froes,
senior vice president of marketing
for Embraer Executive Jets. “We
believe the charter and fractional
markets are very good for the
advancement of business aviation,
especially in Asia where the
market is slowly maturing.”
APP IN THE AIR
If the price is right, chartering
an aircraft can be a tempting
proposition – not only do you get
to feel like a VIP but you can also
avoid long queues at check-in,
depart when you want to and land
in an airport that isn’t miles from
your meetings. Put it like that and
it actually makes business sense.
Chartering a jet can be as
simple as picking up the phone,
but in recent years advanced
technology – including consumer-
friendly apps – has made the
business of finding the right
aircraft much easier and, in many
cases, considerably less expensive.
Many of us have experience
of using Uber, and private jet
“disruptors” such as Stratajet
(stratajet.com), Victor (flyvictor.
com) and Privatefly (privatefly.
com) have been quick to copy the
idea in a bid to become the “Uber
of private jets”.
Stratajet has quickly expanded
in Europe and the US. It claims
that it was set up “to address the
major issues of inefficiency and
wastage in private aviation”. That
inefficiency comes about because
at any moment there are thousands
of jets waiting to be chartered, but
they may be in the wrong place and
need flying to the right one. These
“empty legs” can be an answer for
passengers seeking a cost-effective
private flight.
According to the company,
the average booking through its
app, launched in April last year, is
US$7,800. Bearing in mind that
this could mean chartering an
entire aircraft, it might perhaps
demonstrate that there is scope
for a wide range of people to have
access to private jets. Coupled with
the fact that one-third of flyers are
first-time flyers, it suggests that
there’s the possibility of this being
a growth market.
Jonny Nicol, founder and chief
executive of Stratajet, says: “When
you download the app, the priceyou see is the price you pay. We
spent over four years building the
technology behind it so we could
quote instantly and accurately,
taking into account all the variables.”
He explains that when you
charter a jet, “there are 15 different
sets of fees, 14 of which are
outside the operators’ control and
change [depending] on the time
of day, day of week and level of
emissions, and those differences
can be thousands of pounds.”Opposite and
above: Embraer’s
Legacy 500; Victor
passengers; and
the Victor Private
Jet Charter app