Private jet demand soars as aviation industry deals with plane shortage
A record boom in the use of private jets has left a shortage of aircrafts as more people return to flying, according to reports.
Aviation data provider WingX saw a record number of flights in each of the last six months with over 4.2m flights by private jets taking place this year so far, according to the Financial Times which first reported the news.
Private jet flights were up 54 per cent in the first week of November, compared to the same period last year, and 16 per cent higher than in 2019.
The sudden popularity of private jets, despite their environmental impact, could in part be due to a global increase in wealth among the rich.
The demand has meant sales of both new and older aircrafts have increased too, as the sector scrambles to increase capacity in the skies.
The chief executive of Flexjet, a fractional ownership company, told the Financial Times she had spent the last nine months “shopping for aircraft” while the company was forced to stop taking on any new customers for one of its jet programmes.
Another private jets company, NetJets, is reportedly investing around $2.5bn in 100 new aircraft.
The news comes as new research found that Isle of Man was home to more private jets than France, Italy or Spain.
Around 2,444 private jets are registered in Western Europe, compared to 2,414 in 2020 and 2,344 in 2019, according to research from private jet broker Colibri Aircraft, shared exclusively with City PM last week.
“The private jet market has held up extremely well during the Coronavirus crisis,” Oliver Stone, managing director of Colibri Aircraft, told City PM last week.
”Given well documented troubles in the commercial aviation sector with flights being cancelled for example, and with nearly 700 the fewer touch points flying privately), existing owners of aircraft are keeping hold of them, and the market has seen new companies and people looking to buy their first jets,” said Stone.