MUMBAI: While the pandemic weakened airlines, for the charter industry, 2020 brought with it a diverse mix of charter fliers for the first time. These were passengers who had never flown on a charter flight, people who did not know that, unlike airline jets, it is necessary to bend down to get into most smaller charter planes, as these do not have ‘flight cabins’. foot’. They found skip-the-line security counters in exclusive charter terminals where the only passengers around were their group.
But unlike the boom in first-time travelers brought in by low-cost airlines a decade ago, the majority of first-time charters are likely also single passengers who may never board a plane again. charter flight.
Like Shiwali Chaudhary, who flew with her husband and nine-year-old daughter from Mumbai to Jaipur in May. “I was eight months pregnant. We have no relatives in Mumbai and locked up, no domestic help. Since my condition was critical with a probability of premature birth, we flew to my parents’ house,” Chaudhary said adding. that a senior doctor was on board the air ambulance to help her with posture, breathing, etc. During flight.
Families grouped for exclusivity flights
The charter company that flew into Chaudhary carried about 20 pregnant passengers from April to December. Now you have tapped into this niche among travelers for the first time. Mandar Bharde of MAB Aviation, a non-scheduled aircraft operator, which launched charter air ambulance flights exclusively for pregnant women last week, said: “We have a gynecologist on board, with music and in-flight meals tailor-made for the passenger. charter flights take off in weather that doesn’t create a bumpy ride. ” It costs between 6 and 10 lakh rupees per flight. He said they received 25 firm bookings to fly pregnant women in the first week of launch.
It is a niche market that exists only because of the pandemic. “We receive inquiries from husbands, fathers. Most of these pregnant passengers do not have any medical complications. But their families do not want them to go to crowded airports to board crowded air flights.
In Mumbai, charter passengers board from the dedicated General Aviation (GA) terminal in Kalina or if they are flying a turboprop, mostly from Juhu Airport. A spokesperson for Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) said: “Before the pandemic, the terminal catered to private or unscheduled flight operations that mainly consisted of VIP and corporate movements. However, with the closure, the terminal changed its approach to attend medical and emergency services and registered an average of 10-15 departures / arrivals during the lockdown. ”Currently, many passengers also avoid the use of passenger terminals and seek personalized and risk-free flights, opting to pay extra to fly charter and use less crowded facilities, the spokesperson added.
Although the number of charter flights operated between April and November last year from Mumbai Airport’s GA terminal is less than during the same period in 2019, aviation industry insiders say the numbers have risen in recent months. after the truce during the closure.
Rahul Muchhal from Accretion Aviation, an aggregator said: “During the lockdown, we only transferred patients with medical emergencies, such as cancer patients, a 6-year-old boy who suffered a stroke and was transferred from Dhanbad in Jharkhand to Delhi in a King Air C-90 Air Ambulance “. Among the charter flights after the closure are families flying to Shirdi as a loved one survived COVID, upper middle class families from cities like Delhi, Mumbai flying to Maldives on charter because the economy was working. , on the Delhi-Male route. The vast majority of these were first-time travelers. We haven’t seen that many first-time travelers in previous years, “he said.
But unlike the boom in first-time travelers brought in by low-cost airlines a decade ago, the majority of first-time charters are likely also single passengers who may never board a plane again. charter flight.
Like Shiwali Chaudhary, who flew with her husband and nine-year-old daughter from Mumbai to Jaipur in May. “I was eight months pregnant. We have no relatives in Mumbai and locked up, no domestic help. Since my condition was critical with a probability of premature birth, we flew to my parents’ house,” Chaudhary said adding. that a senior doctor was on board the air ambulance to help her with posture, breathing, etc. During flight.
Families grouped for exclusivity flights
The charter company that flew into Chaudhary carried about 20 pregnant passengers from April to December. Now you have tapped into this niche among travelers for the first time. Mandar Bharde of MAB Aviation, a non-scheduled aircraft operator, which launched charter air ambulance flights exclusively for pregnant women last week, said: “We have a gynecologist on board, with music and in-flight meals tailor-made for the passenger. charter flights take off in weather that doesn’t create a bumpy ride. ” It costs between 6 and 10 lakh rupees per flight. He said they received 25 firm bookings to fly pregnant women in the first week of launch.
It is a niche market that exists only because of the pandemic. “We receive inquiries from husbands, fathers. Most of these pregnant passengers do not have any medical complications. But their families do not want them to go to crowded airports to board crowded air flights.
In Mumbai, charter passengers board from the dedicated General Aviation (GA) terminal in Kalina or if they are flying a turboprop, mostly from Juhu Airport. A spokesperson for Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) said: “Before the pandemic, the terminal catered to private or unscheduled flight operations that mainly consisted of VIP and corporate movements. However, with the closure, the terminal changed its approach to attend medical and emergency services and registered an average of 10-15 departures / arrivals during the lockdown. ”Currently, many passengers also avoid the use of passenger terminals and seek personalized and risk-free flights, opting to pay extra to fly charter and use less crowded facilities, the spokesperson added.
Although the number of charter flights operated between April and November last year from Mumbai Airport’s GA terminal is less than during the same period in 2019, aviation industry insiders say the numbers have risen in recent months. after the truce during the closure.
Rahul Muchhal from Accretion Aviation, an aggregator said: “During the lockdown, we only transferred patients with medical emergencies, such as cancer patients, a 6-year-old boy who suffered a stroke and was transferred from Dhanbad in Jharkhand to Delhi in a King Air C-90 Air Ambulance “. Among the charter flights after the closure are families flying to Shirdi as a loved one survived COVID, upper middle class families from cities like Delhi, Mumbai flying to Maldives on charter because the economy was working. , on the Delhi-Male route. The vast majority of these were first-time travelers. We haven’t seen that many first-time travelers in previous years, “he said.
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