Air Charter Service sees 10% jump in revenues to $1.34bn in 2025
Air Charter Service (ACS) has reported turnover of US$1.34bn, an increase of 10.3% on 2024’s figures, driven by 19.1% growth in private jet revenue.
Across ACS’s three main divisions, private jets saw the largest revenue growth, with figures up 19.1% on 2024. This was fuelled by a number of strategies paying dividends, including the expansion of its Jet Card programme. ACS’s helicopter business also saw progress with a 44% jump in revenue over 2024’s figures.
The company posted EBITDA growth of 33% on a 10.3% revenue increase in 2025.
Chris Leach (pictured above), chairman at Air Charter Service, said: “We had an exceptionally pleasing 2025, with both charter numbers and revenue increasing across all divisions.
“Our group charter division saw a healthy increase in turnover, with huge increase in charter numbers and 2025 represents our best ever year for the department. It was the year in which the team broke our longest flight record twice in a week – first from Dallas to Sydney, and then Perth to Los Angeles – and chartered the largest ever aircraft to land in Antarctica,” he added.
According to Andy Christie, Group Private Jets Director at ACS, the firm’s jet card programme delivered “significant growth”.
“While it doesn’t represent the majority of our charter activity, because we operate far more ad hoc charters than Jet Card programmes, the increase was substantial,” Christie told CJI. “Importantly, Jet Card reflects returning customers and repeat business, which is always encouraging.”
Christie also believes growth is sustainable. “There’s still more to do on the efficiency side, and our expansion strategy continues. We’ve already opened one new office this month and have another launching in the coming weeks,” he said.
ACS’s strategy has been to secure longer-term contracts, particularly in North America and Asia-Pacific. Although a portion of those agreements operate at lower margins because they’re regular, several flights a day in some cases, they provide “consistency and have definitely supported overall performance”, said Christie.
“We’ve also invested heavily in technology and built out a dedicated data transformation team,” he added. “They’ve improved our internal efficiencies, which ultimately enhances the customer experience. Alongside that, we’ve grown our headcount significantly.”
Citing the EBITDA increase of 33% versus 2024, Christie said: “Margin gains have been broad-based. Larger aircraft contracts typically generate higher turnover and often stronger margins, so an increase in that activity has helped. But overall, margin performance has improved across the board.”
ACS’s ACMI & Leasing team saw the largest growth across all divisions, with a 168% leap in turnover. This has been driven by both a significant increase in contract numbers and higher overall deal values, said Christie.
“Contract numbers increased by 62%, and turnover rose by 168%. It’s a key focus area for us. We’ve strengthened the leadership team and brought in very experienced people,” he explained. “There’s effectively no one in that division with less than 15 years’ experience — most have far more.”
The company’s cargo charter division performance was lower than in its passenger divisions, but it still outperformed the wider market, which contracted by around 3–4% globally in 2025, said Christie.
That said, against the backdrop of tariff uncertainty causing industry disruption for much of the year, ACS’s Time Critical division saw its revenues climb by 76% and jobs increasing by 92%.
“Our time-critical division has gone from strength to strength. We brought in new leadership about a year ago, and the team has performed exceptionally well,” said Christie. “While both onboard courier and next flight out [NFO] services have grown, the most significant expansion has been in NFO. We introduced that offering during Covid when onboard courier options were limited, and it has really taken off over the past year.”
ACS also opened six new offices in 2025, including firsts in Saudi Arabia and Italy. “Our new offices have performed very well,” said Christie. “Riyadh has been particularly strong. Saudi Arabia only recently allowed foreign companies to operate domestically, and that regulatory shift has paid dividends for us.”
Addressing expansion priorities for 2026, Christie said ACS is focused on unlocking further growth in offices where it believes there’s “additional potential”. “It’s not about underperformance — it’s about maximising opportunity,” he noted.
“We’ve already opened Brussels this year and expect to launch at least two or three more offices before year-end, potentially more. Expansion remains very much part of our strategy.”
Meanwhile, read our profile of ACS in Corporate Jet Investor magazine here.
