Punch
The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic has had far-reaching consequences for many industries globally. For many of the businesses, it has been an uphill task recovering from the downturn in business occasioned by the pandemic.
The aviation industry was not left out of this conundrum as the lockdown and fears of passengers sitting in proximity with one another nearly affected the industry. The industry is now recovering albeit gradually.
Data provided by an American technology company that provides real-time, historical, and predictive flight tracking data and products, FlightAware, showed that all types of air travel were initially devastated by worldwide COVID-19 lockdowns. In 2020, global flights fell to a fifth of their 2019 volume, and business flights to 36 per cent. The figures have since improved slightly but still stand at around half the numbers recorded pre-COVID era.
However, compared to the commercial air industry, the trends in the private jet industry show comparatively positive effects. With the increased fear of contracting COVID-19, and since private jets allow travelling with minimal interaction with other people on the flight and in the airport, many influential people globally turned towards the use of private jets.
In addition to minimising the risk of contracting COVID-19, wealthy individuals globally have realised how much time and hassle they can save by avoiding commercial airports and the typical delays such as flight cancellations and limited destinations.
Private fliers can design their schedules and fly directly to smaller cities. Thus, for the wealthy folks, flying in a private jet is no longer seen as a luxury but a tool to increase productivity levels and enhance cost efficiency.
In its annual survey, an American advanced technology company, Honeywell International, noted that about two-thirds of business-jet operators plan to fly more hours next year than in 2021.
This improved demand is buoying one of the few industries that never fully recovered from the Great Recession, as orders for new aircraft easily outpaced production during the second quarter of 2020. With the pandemic, more wealthy people now want to enjoy the privileges of private aviation, and since some of them have now been exposed to the conveniences associated with private plane travel, their increased demand would likely drive the private jet business.
Plane manufacturers too are stepping up to this rising demand, as they continue rolling out new jets with lots of innovations to stimulate sales.
Private jet shipments over the next decade are expected to total 7,400 at a value of $238bn, according to the survey by Honeywell. This is higher than last year’s prediction of 7,300 worth $235bn over 10 years.
The high demand for used aircraft is also compelling customers to purchase new jets even if they must wait a couple of years for delivery. Private jet purchases are expected to climb to 611 this year and to 647 in 2022, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co and annual purchases may reach 900 new jets within five years.
The convenience of owning a private jet, notwithstanding, many travellers don’t have the time or energy to be responsible for jet ownership let alone the costs.
About 25 years ago, an American aircraft company, PlaneSense, came up with a solution to this dilemma with a cost-effective fractional jet ownership programme.
To meet the demands of certain wealthy individuals who do not want the burden of totally owning a private jet, they set up a fractional jet share system that caters for these set of people, and at cheaper costs.
