Demand for private jets soar in Austria amid pandemic

(3 Jan 2022) LEAD IN
The demand for private jets has shot up since the start of the pandemic and now, business aviation companies in Austria are reporting they're unable to buy new, or even used aircraft because they are in such short supply.
They say a fall in the number of flights on scheduled airlines, coupled with the inconvenience of COVID-19 restrictions has led to more business for them.

STORY-LINE
Being able to choose when you want to fly, as well as who you want to fly with, is an obvious advantage during the pandemic.
Scheduled airlines have taken a big hit, COVID-19 restrictions and the need for diagnostic tests like PCRs have led to a drop in mass tourism.
According to estimates from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) the number of seats airlines could offer passengers halved in 2020, that meant an overall reduction of 2,699 million passengers.
The Organization estimates this year airlines will have had 2,199 million fewer passengers.
It says losses over both years are an estimated to be around $695 billion USD.
Not everyone in the airline industry is suffering though, while scheduled airlines are far below their pre-COVID-19 levels, some private aviation industry operators say that they are experiencing high demand.  
In fact, the market for new and used aircraft is "empty" says Manuel Gusterer, CEO of a private jet charter company called OysterJet, based in Vienna.
"At the moment, it is very hard, because of the pandemic, to get airplanes" he says.
"As aircraft operator, as an airline in the business aviation, we have to realise that the market is empty: second-hand airplanes are so to say not available, and even new orders take two to three years at the moment."  
Gusterer says he even gets emails asking whether he has aircraft to sell.
In it's latest Business Aviation Bulletin, WingX, a German data research and consulting company for business aviation flights, says aviation is busier in this sector than it was in pre-pandemic times.
According to the report the demand is as a direct result of COVID-19.
Their latest figures from December 15 2021 show scheduled airline operations are down by 30 percent compared to December 2019.  
Business aviation on the other hand is increasing.
Worldwide, the number of business jet flights in November 2021 was almost 60 percent above the same time in 2020, according WingX.
If you compare the number of flights with pre-pandemic levels, there is still an increase of 16 percent compared with November 2019.
It's worth noting though that much of the strong growth is due to business flights in the North American region.
Parts of Europe are seeing some fluctuations now because of the appearance of the omicron variant of the coronavirus according WingX.
Overall avoiding crowds, being able to pick your destination and saving time added to the attraction of private business travel according to OysterJets chief pilot Stephane Larrieu:
"Well, we have seen two things (since pandemic): we have seen a new clientele arrive, and a rate of demand for flights which has increased considerably and which, moreover, continues to increase."
Since fewer scheduled flights are being offered, having to wait for connections can lead to a lot of wasted time.
Larrieu says that the top management from SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises), have discovered it can be much quicker way to get from A to B.
"To get up at 05:00 AM and come back three days later at 23:00 where they could have done that within a day with the business aviation, it is that clientele that is a new one for us," he says.

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