Private Jets and Business Aircraft
With the well documented issues in commercial flying more and more people have found reasons to turn to private aircraft.
There are a variety of options to consider. The starting point is how often you want to fly privately.
If you only fly a few hours a year then on demand aircraft charter is probably the best way to go. As your number of hours of private flying increases look at charter cards and fractional cards.
Once you reach about 50 hours of flying a year then fractional aircraft ownership can start to make sense and above 300 or so hours per year whole ownership is worth looking into. Here is some core information to help you understand the options.
All of the major providers have expanded over the last few years. Many now offer a wide range of products and solutions to meet the needs of various clients. If you're looking at the different options and would like a good general overview then download our free Guide to Private Aviation, which includes details on charter, jet cards and fractional ownership. For detailed side by side comparisons of the leading jet card and fractional providers, a directory of charter operators, and our Aircraft Buying Guide then sign up for membership.
The latest news and research on private jets and aircraft is included below.
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- Written by Nick Copley
The jet membership and charter provider has grounded its whole fleet of light jets. Putting the blame squarely on the shoulders of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting state of emergency.
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- Written by Nick Copley
The whole world has pretty much stopped traveling for any reason. You will have heard how commercial aviation companies such as Delta and United have significantly reduced their schedules. Private flights and business aviation are also way down from their normal level.
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- Written by Nick Copley
This new short-term lease from VistaJet offers a dedicated aircraft and crew for one, two or three months. The fixed monthly cost includes up to 50 hours usage per month with additional hours available at a reduced rate.
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- Written by Nick Copley
The large fractional private jet company is now using only its own aircraft to get its pilots and other crew members in place. This crew ferry program has been developed to limit the exposure of passengers and flight crews to COVID-19.
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- Written by Fiona Young-Brown
As the Coronavirus, also known as Covid-19, leads to large-scale cancellations of vacations, school, conferences, and sporting events, a number of businesses are wondering how best to continue, while ensuring the safety of their employees. The privacy offered by private jets can be just the solution to some who still need to travel but wish to avoid crowds as much as possible.
We reached out to a few aviation providers to learn more about how they are handling operations in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak.
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- Written by Nick Copley
Wheels Up has continued its recent acquisition spree. It just acquired Gama Aviation Signature, a leading private aviation services company that provides aircraft management, private jet charter, and ancillary support for its managed aircraft. Gama Aviation Signature has been the exclusive operator of the Wheels Up fleet of King Air 350i, Citation Excel/XLS and Citation X aircraft since Wheels Up launched in 2013.
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- Written by Nick Copley
SherpaReport talked to two experts in the field of fractional aircraft agreements to find out which terms are negotiable. Between them these advisors have seen hundreds of fractional contracts. Here’s a rundown on the areas to look at if you are buying a share in an aircraft.
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- Written by Fiona Young-Brown
PrivateFly, a global private jet booking platform, has been arranging jet charters since 2008. They just looked back at 2019 to summarize the trends they saw across their bookings.
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- Written by Fiona Young-Brown
Most articles that discuss the pros and cons of flying privately, as opposed to commercially, tend to focus only on the cost. While the dollar amount is definitely not to be ignored, there is another consideration that can be just as important – time. When it comes to private aviation, most flyers will tell you that their time savings are often more than worth the extra expense. But is that always the case? SherpaReport takes a look at some different situations and how time and cost both factor into the decision on whether to fly privately.
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- Written by Nick Copley
Private aviation company Wheels Up has been on an acquisition spree over the last year, as it expands and scales up. Last week it acquired the private jet arm of Delta Air Lines, and Delta will now be a shareholder of Wheels Up. The deal is expected to close early in 2020 and it sounds as if there could be a lot of cross promotions between the two companies.
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- Written by Fiona Young-Brown
With the latest jet sales forecasts released, it’s time for our annual summary of the state of the business jet industry. The articles compares the forecasts from Honeywell, Jetcraft and JETNET iQ.
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- Written by Fiona Young-Brown
As the year draws to a close, there are some interesting special deals available from several jet card companies. Here are some of this year’s offers.
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- Written by Nick Copley
The Elite Jet Cards are a way for customers to access the NetJets fleet at a lower price, that also come with a few more restrictions on use. These jet cards have been available for a few years and NetJets recently broadened the program to include a range of jets.
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- Written by Fiona Young-Brown
New Department of Transportation (DoT) regulations aim to make air charter broker services more transparent to the consumer. The rules, known as Part 295 or “Increasing Charter Air Transportation Options”, came into effect earlier this year. One of the goals of the DoT is to “strengthen the legal protections provided to consumers of charter air transportation” while also “facilitating innovation and growth in the air charter industry”.
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- Written by Nick Copley
The private aviation company, Wheels Up, recently raised a further $128 million in funding. It has already acquired Avianis Systems, a private aviation technology company. And has plans to expand its platform and accelerate membership growth through further investment in sales and marketing.
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- Written by Nick Copley
At the National Business Aviation Association Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE) in Las Vegas, Flexjet announced that it has placed orders for new aircraft from both Embraer and Gulfstream. The Embraers include the brand-new Praetor mid- and super midsized aircraft and Phenom 300 light jets. The Gulfstream planes are the flagship ultra-long range G700.
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- Written by Nick Copley
The fractional and jet card private aviation company is growing its operation into the Upper Midwest, including the Chicago, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Louisville markets. SherpaReport talked to John Owen, AirShare CEO to find out more about the expansion and recent growth.
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- Written by Fiona Young-Brown
Private aviation is an attractive alternative to commercial air travel for both business and leisure travelers. But the array of services can be rather daunting to someone who is considering it for the first time. This article provides an introduction to private aviation, designed to help you understand why and how to get the most from your next private plane journey.
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- Written by Nick Copley
This new days-based fractional ownership program is aimed at high-utilization large cabin customers. The Flexjet program will start with two home bases, New York City and London, which are the financial capitals of the world and two of the most popular business and personal travel destinations.
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- Written by Nick Copley
SherpaReport recently spoke to the founder and CEO of Vista Global, Thomas Flohr. It’s been a busy year for Vista Global. The company was founded just last year as an enhancement to VistaJet, the global aviation company, that Flohr started in 2004. The aim was to become the worldwide leading provider in business flight solutions. Over the course of the last 12 months the company has already acquired XOJet and more recently Jet Smarter, and has just combined them into XO.
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- Written by Nick Copley
Air Partner jet card holders have always been able to use their US card balance for flights in Europe, and European card holders can use their cards in the North America. But for flights between the two, they had to pay variable charter rates. Air Partner now offers the first fixed price transatlantic jet card.
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- Written by Fiona Young-Brown
Massachusetts-based Magellan Jets has recently restructured their membership program to launch a new jet card. Named Elevate, the program is designed with complete flexibility and customer satisfaction in mind. And to prove their goal of pleasing customers, Magellan is offering a 30-day satisfaction guarantee. If the program doesn’t suit you, you can receive a refund of all remaining funds within 30 days of your first flight.
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