Private jets mean it's business as usual despite snow travel chaos

PrivateFly.com reports surge in bookings from European business community where scheduled airlines have left them stranded.

With all the travel chaos, online booking network, PrivateFly.com, has seen a surge in private jet charter bookings and enquiries. Many of the enquiries have come from businesses that are using private jet travel for the first time, who cannot risk senior executives missing meetings or being left stranded in Europe in the week leading up to Christmas.

As with other travel chaos situations such as the ash cloud, private jet hire has become a viable and efficient means of business travel, ensuring flexibility to change timings, use closer airports, and work around airport openings and closures at very short notice.

PrivateFly is a network of over 7000 accredited aircraft based globally, with the unique software capability to quickly compare and book private jet charter availability when others have fleets grounded.

Below are details of a couple of business case studies:

1. A wealth fund managing director, from a London-based family office, had to get to Milan for an urgent client meeting. He contacted PrivateFly online on Sunday night after he could not find any scheduled airline availability at all. He was able to search and compare all his available charter options before booking his trip within 2 hours of enquiry. He flew from Luton at 0730hrs on Monday morning, straight to Milan Linate - a dedicated private jet airfield, which was also a much closer airfield to his destination. He was originally due to come back the same day, but has now decided to stay overnight, to then bring his client back by private jet. He commented: "At a time of travel chaos, when I had to book my travel at very short notice, this was simply a breeze to organise. I've also had the flexibility to change my timings, and be able to look after my client by bringing him back tomorrow on the jet. In terms of business efficiency and time saving, this has undoubtedly been an extremely successful decision, at a very busy time of the year. Being stranded in Europe or not making this meeting was simply not an option".

2. A Hedge fund manager - flying from USA back to Zurich via London - was diverted to East Midlands airport on Sunday evening. No direct flights are available from East Midlands to Zurich, so he went to the help desk at the airport, and was directed to their private jet online booking platform on the airport website, which is powered by PrivateFly.com. He was able to find availability and book a private jet within the hour. However shortly afterwards East Midlands was then not able to accept any more private aviation departures, so a quick taxi ride to Doncaster Airport, meant he could meet the aircraft there (which flew in from Jersey, unaffected by the snow conditions) and was straight on his way by 2000 hrs on Sunday, direct to Zurich.

Adam Twidell, CEO of PrivateFly.com comments "Private jets are highly flexible and we have been able to re-route customers while the aircraft are flying, to stay one step ahead of airport closures and disruption. In the last 48 hours, we have seen echoes of the ash cloud crisis, with a surge of bookings and increased visitors to PrivateFly.com to try and find a private jet solution.

" We have many business customers, for whom missing meetings or spending time stranded at airports is simply not an option. By tapping into a global network over 7000 aircraft, we can quickly assess availability of aircraft, and find the best price and aircraft suitability for clients.

“As airports re-open, a backlog of customers and airline cancellations means that we expect it to be extremely busy for the rest of this week.”

For further information, interviews or imagery, please contact:

Katrina Suppiah
Publicité Ltd
T: 020 8543 6582/M: 07809 028711
E: k.suppiah@publicite.co.uk

PrivateFly.com is an online booking network that makes it quicker, easier and more cost effective to arrange private jet charter. With over 2700 operators registered worldwide, PrivateFly is the only online aggregator for private jet charter in Europe.

PrivateFly,
Censeo House,
6 St Peters St,
St Albans,
AL1 3LF, UK.

This release was published on openPR.