Private Executive Jet Travel in Asia
| There are over 11,000 private aircraft registered worldwide, with around 7,500 in North America and 2,500 in Europe. Private jet usage in Asia, home to 3 billion people, has yet to take off in a big way - with only 500 aircraft in service. |
The private aviation market in Asia looks set to grow strongly in the coming years - jet charter is now becoming more popular with business travellers. However jet purchase and fractional ownership programs have yet to attract significant interest - most planes are bought by air charter operators themselves. In addition, many airfields have to be upgraded to handle private jet arrivals and bureaucracy needs to be reduced.
Let's take a look at a few charter companies in Asia and what they offer:
Surprisingly, private aviation has not taken off in a big way in Japan. With an excellent high-speed train network and large domestic airline capacity, most corporate travellers stick to public transport. There are a few charter operators in the sector - one is Japan Jet Charter Co Ltd, which has an excellent range of aircraft for charter. From a Boeing Business Jet BBJ and Gulfstream V, to Cessna Citation CJ1 and CJ2 and a Hawker 800XP.
Executive Jets Asia is a company operating out of Singapore who offer ad hoc jet charters and block hours programs. They actually have a very interesting fractional ownership program. They offer a 1/6 share in either a Hawker 700 (for $800,000) or a Hawker 800 (for $1.2m). For year 1 you get 70 free flying hours with no extra fees. From year 2 to 5 you only pay an annual fee of $100,000 for your 70 hours - again this is all-in, with no other fees to pay. You also get 30% of any income when the aircraft is rented to third parties and after 5 years they sell the aircraft and you get back 1/6 of the sales price.
So your investment with Executive Jets Asia for the Hawker 700 looks like this:
1/6
fractional share $800,000
Annual Fee Year 2 - 5: $100,000 x 4 = $400,000
Total
Outlay = $1.2m
Estimated 30% Income
from 3rd Party Charters over 5 Years: $250,000
Guaranteed 1/6 Return on Sale
of Aircraft: $200,000
Total Net Investment = $1.2m - $450,000 = $750,000
So for 350 hours flying time (70 x 5 years) this would cost $2,150 per hour. With a full capacity of 7 passengers this would be over $300 per person per hour.
For any use of the aircraft over your allotted 70 hours, Executive Jets Asia charge owners $1,700 per hour.
Bjets are an up and coming Indian air charter operator who plan to acquire the largest fleet in Asia. Based in Mumbai and Singapore, they are part of the Tata Group and have an order for 50 aircraft including Cessna Citation CJ2s and Hawker 850/900 XPs. They offer 2 options: "Latitude", a fractional ownership program and "Altitude", a 25 hour members program.
For Hong Kong based travellers, Metrojet is a well established charter operation with Gulfstream aircraft (G550, G450, G200) and a Bombardier Challenger 604. They offer a block hours program on their G200 called the Asia Jet Card.
Before purchasing private jet flights you should do a full cost-benefit analysis with a qualified professional. Note, prices can change.
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