Travel + Leisure - India & South Asia
The High-Flying Squad
An increasing number of wealthy flyers in India are ditching commercial airlines for private jets and charter flights to ensure physical distancing in the skies.
N THE WAKE OF the COVID-19 pandemic, the aviation industry has taken a huge hit, with disrupted operations, unpredictable schedules, increased operational costs, and of course, a major drop in passenger bookings. An emerging trend in the wake of this aviation debacle is that of private jet and charter operators. Before the Indian skies opened to domestic flights on May 25, 2020, charter operators found requests to ferry people—who could afford it—stranded in different parts of the country. However, in the post-lockdown phase, the narrative has shifted. With the leisure segment being dormant for now, regular business travellers have started to eschew commercial airliners and opt for charter flights. The primary reason is the ease of physical distancing, thanks to less human interaction and fewer touch points.
IEMERGING MARKET
Sharon-Ann Alder, a Dubai-based Indian entrepreneur, loves to travel across India whenever she visits her family in Mumbai. “We usually invest in First or Business Class experiences of premium carriers whenever we fly to different parts of India. Now, we are more likely to opt for charter flights, as the safety and hygiene quotient is high. Moreover, you can have the whole aircraft to yourself and don’t have to share the space with anyone else, unlike a commercial airliner.” Commenting on this increased demand and emerging market, Kanika Tekriwal, CEO and founder of JetSetGo Aviation (jetsetgo.in), says, “For the very first time, we are getting requests from people who aren’t necessarily wealthy or would not necessarily travel in Business or First Class. We now get close to 20 enquiries a day with 70 per cent of those being new customers.”
FEWER TOUCH POINTS
Eventually it all boils down to safety, hygiene, and social distancing norms, and cutting out unnecessary human contact. “You don’t have to arrive early or undertake lengthy check-in process and security lines at the airport. One can easily skip the immigration and customs queues and get on their ride as soon as they depart from the aircraft,” says Tekriwal. “Charters don’t require heavy manpower as compared with commercials. They also give you an option to skip layovers. There is also the luxury of direct assistance. All these benefits that the charters provide make a huge difference to the travellers at a time like this.” She also highlights a recent survey conducted by consulting firm
McKinsey, which states that commercial flyers have over 200 touch points at the airports, while those travelling on private jets could have as few as 30.
According to the report by GlobeAir, passengers travelling in private jets have 30 times lower risk than if they were to fly commercial.
IS BUSINESS PICKING UP?
Vineet Sehgal, founder of Million Air (millionair.com), a Mumbai-based company specialising in charter flights, offers a different perspective. “In the wake of the pandemic, we thought that we would get an increased load of traffic from entrepreneurs and wealthy travellers. However, as things stand, (in the month of June), people are still not travelling,” he says. “They are opting for video calls rather than travelling. We used to do an average of 180 hours of business every month, and that has dropped drastically. We expect it to pick up post July 15. Flying private might be the next big thing, but for now, there’s a lull and our aircrafts are largely lying on the ground.”