Are you ready for an ‘Uber for the skies’ experience?
US COMPANY WHEELS UP WANTS TO TRY RIDE-HAILING FLIGHTS IN MIDDLE EAST
During the pandemic, while there were headwinds for the airline industry as such, it actually created a tailwind for private jet aviation.”
You’ve done it — take out the phone, open an app and make a booking for a ride to come and drop to your choice of location. It could be a ride to the home, a meeting … or even down to the airport.
Now, a company wants to take the same concept of ridehailing beyond the airport and up to the skies. That’s right, create an “Uber for the sky…,” is how Ravi Thakran, the Singapore-based Chairman and Managing Partner of GCC Asia Growth Fund.
One of his entities — Aspirational Consumer Lifestyle Corp. — earlier this month acquired US-based Wheels Up Partners Holdings, whose business model is based on offering seats on any available private jet that’s there in their neighbourhood.
The intention is to make private jet travel available to more than just the super-rich or corporate clients. And the rates? In the range of Business Class plus.
Ravi Thakran | Singapore-based Chairman and Managing Partner of GCC Asia Growth Fund
Heading to the Middle East
The deal, which values Wheels Up at $2.1 billion and list on NYSE, will see the company expand its reach beyond the US into the Middle East and Asia.
But will this concept fly in untested markets?
“During the pandemic, while there were headwinds for the airline industry as such, it actually created a tailwind for private jet aviation,” said Thakran, who earlier was the head of Asia operations at the French luxury goods giant LVMH.
“In the Middle East itself, private jet flying during 2020 was up 20 per cent plus, while in the US, it was up by 36 per cent. And in many other parts of the world, there was similar double-digit growth.
“There are between 850 and 1,500 private jet aircraft in the MEA region, but which spend 90-95 per cent of the time on the ground. A 95 per cent utilisation rate is way too low.
“With Wheels Up, we are bringing a new-generation tech platform that will be able to connect aspirational consumers on one side and tens of thousands of private aircraft on the other,” Thakran added.
That’s where the Uber concept comes in.
Thakran’s views about Covid-19 and private jet demand are on the ball. Demand shot up immediately after several countries imposed lockdown measures and those who could afford it chose to fly private to get back to wherever they wanted. Corporates flew in or out their key executives as and when they needed, and ensure business continuity.
This is where the Wheels Up app and systems kick into gear. Tap a few times on the app and the prospective flier gets to have a selection rates and jets to make the ride happen. Much like an Uber.
Partner search
Outside of the US, Thakran reckons Wheels Up’s best prospects would lie in the UAE and Middle East, as well as in the Far East. The plan is to rope in a partner, preferably one from the UAE.