Page 6 - Summer 2021

INDUSTRY NEWS
Almost 70% of current private aviation users expect to fly more post-COVID than before the pandemic, with 28% saying they expect to fly privately at similar levels. Only 3% said they would be making fewer private flights.
SURVEY: RECORD PRIVATE JET DEMAND TO CONTINUE
A recent survey shows the COVID-19-era demand surge for private aviation will continue for the foreseeable future.
According to the survey, conducted by Private Jet Card Comparisons, current private aviation users said they had started or restarted private flying due to COVID, and 100% of the new customers said they plan to continue after the pandemic. More than half (53%) said they would continue to fly private regularly, a 29% increase from the 41% who said so in a January survey.
“If the question is, will new users stick with private aviation even in a post-COVID world, the answer is a unanimous yes,” said Doug Gollan, Private Jet Card Comparisons founder.
The survey also revealed a strong pipeline of potential new private jet customers. Of the more than 225 respon- dents, nine out of 10 who were not currently private flyers said they are now considering private aviation.
In terms of travel types, 54% said they use private aviation for personal/vacation trips only, 43% use it for a combination of personal and business needs, and 3% said they use private flights exclusively for business. New users are more likely to use private aviation strictly
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for personal/vacation travel (64%), whereas 52% of pre- COVID private flyers said they used private aviation for a combination of personal and business travel and 44% use it only for personal trips.
Of current private aviation flyers, 81% use jet cards, 35% charter on a flight-by-flight basis, 11% ride on friends’ air- craft, 7% own jets, 6% use by-the-seat or shared jet solutions, 5% hold fractional shares or leases, and 3% use company- owned aircraft from firms they don’t control. Over 50% of respondents said they have more than one private aviation solution, including jet cards from multiple providers.
A significant number of respondents said avoiding the hassles of commercial airlines is a primary reason for con- tinuing to fly privately. However, 19% said they had experi- enced service lapses on their private flights in recent months as demand surged to record levels. Delays of around two to three hours typically were reported.
In terms of satisfaction with current providers, 77% rated their performance as excellent or very good, 8% said perfor- mance was average, and 2% reported below average/poor performance. About 13% said it’s too early to tell.