- Passengers are giving up commercial airliners to travel on private jets
- According to a study there were 78,785 private jet departures in August
- That is a surge of 5.5 per cent compared with the same period in 2016
Fed-up passengers are ditching commercial airlines and flying by private jet in the highest numbers ever, new research has revealed.
They are giving up cramped middle seats and long check-in queues for the luxury of driving straight up to their aircraft before being whisked away immediately.
According to a study by aviation specialist WingX Advance there were 78,785 private jet departures in August – a surge of 5.5 per cent compared with the same period in 2016.
Entrepreneur Jamie Waller, who has taken dozens of private jet flights, told The Times: ‘Being able to go back when you like and be in the air within 20 minutes, and the flexibility of being able to send an SMS to tell the pilot that I’m going to have a later lunch and I want to leave at seven rather than five is what makes it so easy to use.
According to a study by WingX Advance there were 78,785 private jet departures in August – a surge of 5.5 per cent compared with the same period in 2016 (stock photo)
Passengers are giving up cramped middle seats and long check-in queues for the luxury of driving straight up to their aircraft before being whisked away immediately (stock photo)
‘The first time I flew a few years ago cost me about £6,000 an hour. Now with more companies you can make sure you’re getting the best deal, and I pretty much never pay more than £3,000 an hour and that is for quite a large jet.’
Meanwhile private jet booking platform PrivateFly revealed that as many as 20 per cent of its clients were flying off-commercial for the first time.
The average customer spend on prop aircraft was £7,480 while on jets that figure was typically £10,400.
Meanwhile long-range jet charters cost an average of £52,800. The average age of private flyers is just 38 – but over summer nearly a fifth were children under 16.