Initially spurred on by the pandemic, "record demand" for private jet flights is set to continue. That’s according to a new survey of private aviation users.
69 per cent of subscribers to buyers’ guide Private Jet Card Comparisons said they expect to fly private even more than before the pandemic.
In addition, the company’s survey reports a 100 per cent retention rate for new users of private aviation, and the majority of newbies say they’ll continue flying private regularly after COVID.
"If the question is, will new users stick with private aviation even in a post-Covid world, the answer is a unanimous yes, with many (53%) saying they will now use private aviation regularly," said Doug Gollan, Founder, and Editor-in-Chief of Private Jet Card Comparisons.
Over half of all respondents said they use private jets for leisure travel, while 45 per cent use private aviation for combined business/leisure flights, and only 3 per cent use private flights exclusively for business.
Among new users of private aviation, even more - 64 per cent - fly privately strictly for leisure travel. That flips the narrative of private aviation being strictly the domain of large companies, and also reflects new programs and business models that provide users alternatives to ownership as a way to access private jet service.
The reasons pax who choose to fly private give are revealing, with ‘avoiding the hassles of commercial airlines’ topping the list. As the lingering effects of the pandemic add to red tape and line ups at airports, the survey concludes existing and recent private flyers are here to stay - and there’s “a strong pipeline of potential new private jet customers.”
You might expect that 77 per cent of respondents who have flown privately rated their flight experiences as ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’.
But even the pinnacle of travel privilege can become a victim of its own popularity. The survey report also revealed that 19 per cent of current users did say they’d experienced service lapses - usually delays - “as private jet flying surges to record levels.”
