MORE PRIVATE JET FLIGHTS CONTAIN FAMILIES (AND PETS) SINCE THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

July 15, 2020

PrivateFly publishes its Q2 trends report for the ‘rollercoaster’ period April - June, which also reveals a rise in bookings for larger cabin private aircraft

With inter-European travel now back on the agenda this summer, more private jet flights are for family travel than ever before, according to a new trends report.

Private jet booking service PrivateFly, a Directional Aviation company, has published its Private Jet Charter Trends Q2 insights, reflecting its flights between April and June.

Adam Twidell, CEO of PrivateFly comments: “The April to June period really was a rollercoaster ride with activity at a historic low at the start, followed by a surprisingly strong recovery in June - when we were back to over 75% of our expected demand in Europe, and closer to 100% in the US. This upward trend is continuing into July.

“The bounce back is being fuelled by very strong demand from new entrants avoiding the additional exposure of airlines, particularly from family groups travelling to second homes or on holiday. We are also seeing more requests from those flying with pets than usual. Dogs, cats and other domestic pets can travel in the cabin with their owners on a private flight, making it a higher-welfare travel option for those relocating or planning longer periods away. There’s little business travel taking place yet, so most of our flights are for personal travel – and our Q2 report findings reflect that in a number of ways.”

Findings from PrivateFly’s Q2 Private jet Charter Trends report include:

More of PrivateFly’s flights contained children, with under 16s representing 18% of passengers (versus 12% last year).
6% of flights carried pets (versus 4% in the same period in 2019).
The average passenger age was 36 (versus 41 the same period last year), and the proportion of female passengers was higher than usual (67% male versus 71% in 2019).
More flights were on larger aircraft, with 48% on Long Range & Super-Midsize aircraft and the large cabin Challenger 350 the most-flown aircraft type.
Low business travel demand was also evident with almost half of the company’s flights taking place between Friday and Sunday. The busiest day for flights was Friday 26 June, following the lifting of many European border restrictions and lockdowns.
Forward-planning was off the agenda with fewer flights more than 30 days ahead of time (10% versus 21% last year).

Adam Twidell continues: “To what degree business travel will return in the autumn is still a big question mark and clients are not committing very far ahead. But while the risks from the pandemic persist, we’re expecting to see strong demand from families and groups of friends to continue throughout the summer.”

-Ends-

About PrivateFly:

PrivateFly is a leading booking platform for on-demand private jet charter and part of Directional Aviation. With thousands of accredited aircraft integrated worldwide, PrivateFly combines innovative technology with a team of aviation experts, available 24/7 - making it faster and easier to arrange a private jet, wherever and whenever you want to fly.

PrivateFly holds Argus Certified Broker and Wyvern Broker best practice accreditations and is a preferred partner of Virtuoso, the world's leading luxury travel network. Established in 2008, PrivateFly’s Global Headquarters are located in St Albans, UK while the US operation is headquartered in Boston.