Kanika Tekriwal, CEO & Founder, JetSetGo Aviation speaks about the demand and future of private charter aviation market and how the focus on ‘safety’ is going to propel the demand for private charters.
Q. What are the new trends being observed in private charter aviation?
A. For the very first time, we are seeing requests coming from people like never before. Even customers who weren’t necessarily wealthy or would not necessarily travel through business or first class are now opting for charter flights. Mainly new customers are reaching out to us. We are getting close to 20 enquires a day with 70% of the overall demand being generated from new customers.
We recorded a lot of requests coming from parents whose children were stuck in colleges or schools in different countries or domestically and from families who were stuck away from home during the lockdown. A lot of requests from Singapore, London and Australia have been observed as many Indians study in these cities. Eighty-five percent of flights from these cities carried between 1-3 passengers. There is a big surge in requests from people who had sick parents or adults stranded in various parts of the country/world.
Q. How many requests were received during the lockdown and just before the lockdown was announced?
A. We had seen a nine-fold increase in demand just before the lockdown was announced. We were able to fulfil only 50-60% of these requests mainly because the regulations kept changing overnight in one country to another. We received 10-12 requests a day for repatriation flights post lifting of lockdown in various parts of the world.
Q. What is the future of private charter aviation keeping in mind that the pandemic is not going anywhere soon?
A. Considering the current situation, a segment of flyers will now prefer charters as it is safer, hygienic and convenient. Flying privately gives an assurance of minimal touchpoints and provides extra preventive measures. There will be more new customers that will prefer charter flights.
Also, we anticipate that both leisure and business travel will decrease as compared to the scenario in the past. We are seeing a rise in usage of video calls and conferencing because of which the number of trips will reduce. However, business travel will rebound ahead of leisure travel.
Q. How do you think private charters are safer?
A. Chartering a private jet allows you to fly at your own convenience, at a time that suits you best. You don’t have to arrive early neither you have to undertake lengthy check-in process and security lines at the airport. Charters give you direct assistance and also take care of the guests at each step. Chartering an aircraft helps minimise most of the touchpoints needed in conventional flying and thus helps to reduce the risk factors. According to a study, commercial fliers have over 200 touch points at the airport while people flying through private jets have about 30 touchpoints.