Book Early for Business Jet Charters over the Holidays

"Book early," if you plan to fly by business aircraft over the holidays, David Rimmer, executive v-p of charter operator ExcelAire,  Ronkonkoma, N.Y., advises BJT readers. That is, he said, "unless you want to gamble on a last-minute cancellation." He explained that the charter business is very strong this season. "The big difference this year," Rimmer said, "has been the advance bookings, which were much stronger this year than last." 

Indeed, Sweden-based Avinode, a B2B online charter marketplace, reported today that charter demand has skyrocketed for the third week in a row, noting that December has brought "a substantial change in travel patterns that traditionally occur right around the holidays." Usually, the market is dominated by short-distance, light jet travel, but in December the trend moves toward heavy jets on long-haul flights. Avinode, which has a fully owned subsidiary in Miami, said interest in super-midsize jet charters has also increased in December.

Rimmer agreed, in part. "We've actually found much stronger demand for heavy jets throughout the recession," he said.  "The holidays have been no exception, and we are largely out of airplanes for much of the next couple of weeks."

While there seems to be no shortage of empty-leg flights (for example, Pinehurst, N.C.-based EmptyLegMarket.com is currently showing 177 available flights over the next few weeks), Rimmer said that if you are traveling with the main flow, such as from the Northeast to Colorado or the Caribbean, "finding a flight you want is particularly difficult this time of year." Conversely, if you travel against the flow, say, Caribbean to the Northeast on January 1 to 3, "there are a great deal of empty-leg opportunities."

Avinode also reported that average charter rates for the three most popular North American heavy business jets have been nearly constant over the last six months. These rates are as follows (for today, three months ago and six months ago): Gulfstream V ($7,453; $7,502; $7,502); Falcon 900 ($5,652; $5,677; $5,572); Challenger 604 ($4,754; $4,730; $4.737).