Business jet operators have seen demand for their services take off in Europe as more and more busy executives try to bypass crowding at major airports and tighter security measures that slow travel.
The growing appeal of private jets was underscored in the days after Britain unveiled an alleged plot to blow up transatlantic airliners as private jet companies across the continent reported a jump in bookings when scores of commercial flights were canceled.
Netjets Europe, the biggest operator of business jets in Europe whose fleet is registered in Portugal, has over 1,200 customers in Europe, up from just 89 four years ago.
The number of planes which the firm, part of US tycoon Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway, operates in Europe rose during the same time to 112 from 17, making it the ninth biggest airplane fleet on the continent.
The company has invested US$445 million on its fleet this year, with 30 new aircraft scheduled for delivery by the end of the year.
"We are very, very bullish about the future," Netjets Europe director of business development, Robert Dranitzke, said in a telephone interview.
Netjet Europe's growth reflects the strong rise in business jet traffic in Europe, which since 2001 has grown twice as fast than the rest of air traffic, according to air traffic management agency Eurocontrol.
The agency predicts the European fleet of business aircraft will grow by 4 percentage points per year over the next 10 years, adding around 1,000 aircraft to the existing fleet of 2,000 planes.
Globalization has increased the need for business travel and top executives in Europe have increasingly come to see paying more to fly as a justifiable expense if it saves time, analysts and business jet operators said.
"As business has become increasingly competitive, time has become more valuable for top executives. As a result the value proposition for private aviation has become more and more tenable," Dranitzke said.
Private jet operators mainly use smaller airports, where the more stringent security checks aren't usually disruptive, and can offer direct flights between most locations.
The introduction of creative payment models, such as fractionable ownership and pre-paid cards for flying hours, and the perception that air travel has become more complicated since the Sept. 11 attacks have helped the market expand, analysts said.
Skyjet International, a subsidiary of Canadian aerospace group Bombardier, recorded a 25 percent jump in inquiries about its prices in the week after the alleged airline bombing plot was unveiled by British police on Aug. 10.
While most new users of private jets will return to regular airlines once the tighter security put in place following the security alert eases, Skyjet's managing director, Judith Morton, said some will continue to use the service.
"This will generate new business," she said in a telephone interview.
Prices range from 110,000 euros (US$140,000) for 25 hours of flying time in a small jet to 500,000 euros for a return trip from Europe to Hong Kong on board a 10-seat Bombardier Global Express.
RESILIENCE: Deepening bilateral cooperation would extend the peace sustained over the 45 years since the Taiwan Relations Act, Greene said Taiwan-US relations are built on deep economic ties and shared values, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday, adding that strengthening supply chain security in critical industries, enhancing societal resilience through cooperation and deepening partnerships are key to ensuring peace and stability for Taiwan in the years ahead. Greene made the remarks at the National Security Youth Forum, organized by National Taiwan University’s National Security and Strategy Studies Institution in Taipei. In his address in Mandarin Chinese, Greene said the Taiwan-US relationship is built on deep economic ties and shared interests, and grows stronger through the enduring friendship between
GAINING STEAM: The scheme initially failed to gather much attention, with only 188 cards issued in its first year, but gained popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic Applications for the Employment Gold Card have increased in the past few years, with the card having been issued to a total of 13,191 people from 101 countries since its introduction in 2018, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Those who have received the card have included celebrities, such as former NBA star Dwight Howard and Australian-South Korean cheerleader Dahye Lee, the NDC said. The four-in-one Employment Gold Card combines a work permit, resident visa, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) and re-entry permit. It was first introduced in February 2018 through the Act Governing Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及雇用法),
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,