LunaJets tops $100m revenue for first time last year

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by Mike Stones

January 5, 2022

Private jet charter operator LunaJets’ annual revenue topped $100m for the first time last year, during what the organisation described as “a golden age for private aviation”.

The number of flights reached nearly 8,000, including empty legs, representing 65% growth in flight volume compared with 2020 and 40% up on 2019. Business aviation experienced a big shift from oversupply to undersupply starting in April 2021, according to the company. Growth was fuelled by improving sanitary standards until mid-November, a lack of commercial flight routes and a large increase in wealth resulting from bullish stock markets.

LunaJets CEO Eymeric Segard said: “This recent golden age for our industry is an opportunity to accelerate our global development. We also greatly benefited from the strong demand pressures on 25h-card providers and jet sharing programmes, which could not grow fast enough to absorb this unprecedented level of clients flying on their own fleet. Therefore, some of these clients switched to our services, offering unlimited direct access to a much wider fleet of recent aircraft worldwide.”

Segard said he was “not fooled” by the exceptional market circumstances, which resembled those of 2007 when LunaJets was founded. Rates-per-hour on large cabin aircraft category were increasing and availability dramatically reducing, he added.

Director of Sales Guillaume Launay said the results confirmed LunaJets’ position as European market leader. “We beat our record of new clients with over 1,100 in 2021, with an unprecedented level of clients switching supplier, and newcomers into the industry,” said Launay. “Most of these are leisure clients which, this year represent nearly 70% of our activity, compared to around 50% in 2019, whereas our business clients have dramatically reduced their flight hours.”

MD Alain Leboursier said LunaJets planned to follow the opening of its Monaco office last year with new premises this year in Riga, Moscow and Dubai. “We are building deeper business relationships with our clients (and suppliers), being able to service all their aviation needs as well as rapidly gaining new clients in these markets,” he said.

Despite signs of “a bubble in the industry”, LunaJets is focusing on gaining market share and growth of 20-30% growth this year – provided there are no geopolitical, financial or sanitary shocks.