Entry-level jet charter activity ‘could grow 20%’ in 2021
GlobeAir predicts 20% growth in entry-level jet charter activity in 2021. The charter operator’s new inquiries grew 24% and 17% in December 2020 and January 2021 respectively.
“GlobeAir’s new accounts base grew 89% more than in 2019 and double-digit inquiries growth in December 2020 (+ 24%) and January 2021 (+ 17%).” said vice president of Marketing & Sales Jonathan Berdoz.
Berdoz said the trend might have been triggered by fliers upgrading to private jet travel or existing bizjet customers choosing to use entry-level jet services.
The 20% figure has been calculated based on a range of different factors, Berdoz told Corporate Jet Investor. “Based on numerous simulations with our internal forecast prediction model [FPM], which includes an AI-based analysis of internal and external data, the system predicts a year-on-year [YoY] growth between 18.9% and 25.3% with a confidence interval of 95%. Various scenarios of this prediction include different parameters of YoY revenue, customer base, movements, external market data and predicted numbers of several forecasts from the luxury tourism industry in Europe.”
The operator expects more short-haul than long-haul flights, with passengers demanding the highest flexibility in rebookings and rescheduling.
“GlobeAir has managed to stay within 1% of its 2019 run-rate, operating almost 9,000 sectors across over 300 airports during 2020,” said WingX MD Richard Koe.
The company plans to expand its fleet to be ready for the summer demand. GlobeAir expects a high volume of requests coming in during Easter. Sardinia, Corsica, the Balearic Islands and Côte d’Azur will be next summer’s top European destinations.
“After the challenging events of the previous year, we are starting 2021 with renewed optimism,” said GlobeAir CEO Bernhard Fragner. “It is both a challenging and exciting time for business aviation, with space for innovation and new concepts no matter the crisis. We are also registering an increase in carbon offset requests coming from large corporations and athletes flying private.”