Air Partner targets corporate travel with new card

AirPartner has launches a new Private Jet Card called ‘The Performance Card,’ designed specifically to target the business travel market.

The new card will deliver the same JetCard service that the group is known for, but with enhanced value for users flying day-return flights from a regular base airport. The Performance Card can save executives time and money through transparent fixed pricing and guaranteed availability when pre-purchasing flight time for travel from a client’s base airport, and flying out and back on the same day.

Simon Wheatley, Air Partner’s UK manager for private jets, said: “We have launched the Performance Card in line with a growth in the private aviation market amongst business users. When flying privately, an organisation’s best people can be delivered quickly and seamlessly to exactly where they need to be – not before, not after – and kept there only as long as they need to be there.”

Wheatley added: “In short, they can plan their day around their work instead of planning their work around the routes and schedules of the airlines. The Performance Card is a unique offering, catering for a specific niche market that will grow in parallel with a strengthening economic recovery. Nothing else in the market offers Air Partner’s unique combination of benefits and value to the day return flyer. This is increasingly relevant in a business world where value and transparency have never been more important.”

Air Partner’s JetCard programme is at record levels, and the company sold its first $1m JetCard earlier this year. For the 12 months to 31 July 2012, Air Partner’s Private Jet revenues increased by 8% to £44.0million. In a market that saw European business jet flights decline by 1.7% (EBAA), Air Partner sold 35 new JetCards, with existing client renewal rates increasing by 9%.

Flying privately is a more efficient wau of travelling and can save time when compared to scheduled services. In the competitive world of business, it can often make business sense to choose the flexibility and control that private aviation allows.

Mark Briffa, CEO of Air Partner, said: “The growth in our JetCard sales reflects clients’ recognition of the product’s flexibility and transparency when compared to rival schemes. We firmly believe that Air Partner’s JetCard offering, across both the JetCard and the new Performance Card, is one of the most flexible and user friendly private aviation programmes available in the market today. JetCard’s membership is at record levels, and we are excited about its growth potential.”