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Private charter is the way to travel

Tuesday August 15 2017
Private

Private jets use is quickly becoming a reality in Africa — not just for those who own them, but also those willing to pay for peace, quiet and comfort of exclusive travel. PHOTO FILE | AFP

By MICHAEL OTIENO

A few weeks ago, to the dismay of many social media users, someone took to Twitter to disparage passengers who travel with children and “let them cry throughout the flight.”

In his rather insensitive outburst, which was not very well received going by the reactions online, he lamented about not being able to sleep during the flights due to the children’s cries.

I thought his remarks were not aimed at crying babies but rather at those who travel with them.

While many reacted with dismay to the statement, others recommended in jest, that the complainant consider using a private jet to avoid such disruptions in future.

Unknown to most of those who recommended private jets, their use is quickly becoming a reality in Africa — not just for those who own them, but also those willing to pay for peace, quiet and comfort of exclusive travel.

According to industry sources, Africa is rapidly emerging as a market for private jet ownership and usage particularly with high net worth individuals and corporations.

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On the continent, South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya rank highly in private jet ownership though, according to Corporate Jet Investor, the business jet registry listing, South Africa is among the few countries in the world with a high number of registered jets.

Outside the circle of jet owners, an individual or a corporate can hire or charter a private jet to fly abroad for either business or pleasure.

With billing calculated per hour among other factors, a charter flight on a jet with capacity for six to eight passengers from say Nairobi to Johannesburg can cost anywhere upwards of $25,000.

That figure pales considerably when compared with an executive VIP airliner charter on the same route, which would cost about $85,000.

One-way flights

In many cases, such flights are one-way, forcing the charter company to fly back to base empty or proceed to a third destination for another charter.

Rather than have the jet fly with no passengers, which would mean no revenue, the charter organising company would then market the seats on the “empty leg” to willing takers and make some extra revenue.

On such flights, the seats would usually be sold at highly discounted rates, sometimes up to 65 per cent cheaper than the charter price, as most costs would have already been catered for by the initial charter.

Hence an empty leg flight on a private jet with a capacity of six to eight seats, for instance from Mombasa to Kigali, could cost approximately $5,000 (that’s $625 per person) which is in the range of a business class seat price on the same route.

However, in practical circumstances, and contrary to general assumptions, the price of a seat on an empty leg can easily be higher than the highest published business or first class fare on a route.

But is the cost of such an empty leg flight worth the high tag?

For the few who can afford it, the swanky and luxurious interiors of a private jet, coupled with the comfortable seating, not to mention the “exclusive aura of privacy,” would make the flight worth it.

Departure

Arrival to the airport for departure is not pegged to the usual two to three hours before the flight. Anything from 30 minutes down to 15 minutes before departure is acceptable.

Such flights would usually depart from and land at secondary or less crowded airports. But even if they use main airports, private jet passengers would be handled at a separate facility away from the bustle of the main terminals.

When it comes to catering, it’s the full monty as would be on any VIP flight, with champagne and caviar included in some cases depending on how the composition of the catering uplifted on the first leg.

On the lop side, such flights have very inflexible schedules compared with regular commercial flights, hence one would have to keep checking with charter companies for availability.

Separately but related, it is worthwhile to know that not everyone associated with private jet ownership actually has absolute title and control to one.

In some cases, different individuals come together and pool their resources and buy a jet in what is termed “fractional ownership” akin to timeshare in a holiday home.

The time share aspect here would then depend on the number of hours of use each “co-owner” is allocated per year based on their contribution for instance 60 hours annually per person. 

Michael Otieno an aviation consultant based in Nairobi. Twitter: @mosafariz; Email: [email protected]

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