businesstraveller.com OCTOBER 2017
Private jets I 35T
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 price
you see is the price you pay. We
spent over four years building thetechnology 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