With the personal jet, opportunities are not missed as a consequence of delays and missed connections, as there simply are not any. Valuable time is not wasted.
The user sets the schedule. If the passengers are early, the flight takes off early. If passengers are delayed, the aircraft waits as long as necessary. Changes in schedule or destination, at the last minute or even mid-flight, can be accommodated with ease.
Privacy, safety and security are enhanced.
Frequently operating from and into secondary airports much closer to actual departure point and final destination, passengers are whisked through formalities quickly and discreetly, often being able to transit the departure airport in mere minutes and leave the arrival airport also within minutes of landing. Private terminals may be used, apart from congested airline passengers and the associated delays. Personal vehicles are often permitted direct ramp access to the aircraft under escort.
The aircraft itself provides a completely private and secure environment for on-board business, communications, wining and dining, or simply resting enroute in comfortable and familiar surroundings with people you know.
Safety procedures, training and maintenance standards can be established to match those of the world’s best airlines.
With significantly reduced travel fatigue and stress, efficiency and productivity improve dramatically.
The private jet is today considered an essential part of the business equipment of corporations, governments and individuals, having long proved its worth in its contribution to business efficiency in providing the facility for management to operate with greater flexibility and cost effectiveness.
At the end of 2020, there were 22,571 (2019: 22,400) business jets recorded in use worldwide, of which 8,652 (8,456) can be classified as heavy jets and 4,924 (4,845) as medium, i.e. a greater number than the projected combined fleets of the world’s airlines post Covid-19. Of these, North America accounted for 14,438 (14,387) such aircraft, Europe 2,693 (2,654), Asia-Pacific 1,766 (1,546), South America 1,421 (1,383), Africa 480 (471) and the rest smaller markets or not attributed to a specific geographic area.
Some 545 new-build business jet aircraft were delivered to customers in 2020 (2019: 680), with perhaps circa 580-600 anticipated to be delivered worldwide in 2021. Of those in service, as is the case with airliners, approximately a third are under ten years old and a further third between 11 and 20 years old. The vast majority of business jets ever built remain in service today.
The experiences of Covid-19 undeniably create an environment for the increased acceptance and use of the private jet in order to travel safely within a controlled ‘bubble’ and with far less ‘touchpoints’, while some current owners must raise cash by reducing their fleets, dispose of surplus aircraft following the purchase of a new-build, or simply just to focus on other areas of their business. This creates opportunities for some to move up in aircraft size and capability and for others to enter the sector, while benefitting from a likely short period of suppressed pricing.