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New Zealand companies are bringing staff to meetings across the country on private jets to save time and avoid potential exposure to Covid-19.
At more than $ 8,000 an hour in the air, it’s not a cheap option, but charter companies say companies are willing to pay for the convenience of avoiding crowded terminals and time-consuming flights on public airlines.
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Chief Health Officer Dr. Ashley Bloomfield demonstrates the proper way to put on a mask.
As border closures advance, charter operators are also increasingly trading for private jet trips to the Pacific islands for people desperate to vacation abroad and ready to pay for the privilege.
GCH Aviation Marketing Manager Caroline Blanchfield said that most of her Bombardier Challenger jet’s customers were entrepreneurs for whom time is money.
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Even at $ 8,500 an hour in the air, GCH Aviation’s 10-seat Bombardier Challenger is getting a steady job that takes time, poor business executives.
Post-Covid-19 commercial airline flight schedules made day trips to some regional hubs difficult, and limiting exposure to Covid-19 was another consideration.
“There is a demand from people who want to travel privately in their own bubble.”
Blanchfield said the plane, which cost $ 8,500 an hour in the air, carried up to five business flights a week and cost about $ 1,600 each for 10 people for a return flight from Christchurch to Palmerston North.
“If you’re trying to close a multi-million dollar deal, it’s a few thousand to get to your meeting and back quickly.”
Companies were also entertaining customers by taking them to places like Queenstown rather than taking trips abroad.
Approximately seven private charter jets are based at the Air Center One terminal at Auckland International Airport and CEO Robin Leach said corporate work had picked up since Covid-19.
“It has helped compensate for the fact that we don’t have too many international visitors these days.”
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Avoiding a transit stop in Wellington is a huge advantage for businessmen who fly to hubs like Napier or Rotorua on private jets.
Leach agreed that saving time was a big draw, and business executives liked the fact that they could jump directly onto their planes, rather than wait in a terminal with hundreds of other passengers.
“You could still be sitting in the terminal building waiting for the plane to depart while the charter flight will be at the top of the descent over the airport where it will land.”
Although the regional airline, Sounds Air, does not fly planes. Chief Executive Officer Andrew Crawford said Covid-19 had increased the demand for commercial flights for its turboprop aircraft, but that it had declined of late as concerns about the spread of Covid-19 lessened.
“It was quite busy in August and September, there were a lot of people saying ‘I’ll never go back on a normal airline.’
“People were nervous about doing that, and if there are six people that go to a meeting, it is quite profitable,” Crawford said.
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New Zealand tourists who yearn for trips to the Pacific Islands are looking for quotes to charter private jets to get there.
Kiwis suffering from “cabin fever” from being unable to leave the country were generating inquiries about private charter flights for vacations to the Pacific islands, Noumea and Tahiti.
Blanchfield recently quoted $ 107,000 for a flight to Rarotonga from Christchurch, staying seven days and returning.
She said there will likely be strong bookings once the quarantine requirement is lifted upon returning to New Zealand.
However, Inflite charter manager Paul Aston has noticed a change in attitude in the past 10 days as people began to realize that borders were unlikely to reopen this year.
Some potential tourists were willing to self-quarantine when they got home.
“We’re starting to see people who are going to ‘fill it in, I’m going to move.’
“We are talking about half a dozen [inquiries] only for the Cook Islands. They range from individuals to groups of 100 to 150 people where we would use something like an A320 plane ”.
Grant Matthew / Stuff
More sports teams are choosing to use charter flights to get to games. (File photo)
Inflite has six jets and up to 15 turboprop planes to draw on, and Aston said there had been an increase in demand for sports teams using charter flights to travel to games across the country.
Over the past four months, the company had organized about 30 flights to Christchurch just for sports teams.
“They are starting to think, how can we safely move our teams and get them to and from games with the fewest number of overnight stays.
“They are finding that their team members are more focused and arriving fresher.”
While a charter was never cheaper than a regular commercial flight, Aston said eliminating overnight accommodations meant it could only cost five to 10 percent more for a team to travel that way.
“They just want to get into a city, do what they want, and get out.”
