Private jet demand rises as wealthy Russians spend lockdown in West
Some private jet companies have seen a rise in demand from
wealthy Russians who want to spend time in the West during the coronavirus
crisis but who were unable to take commercial flights amid tight restrictions
by airlines and governments.
Passengers are heading for countries such as Britain and
Cyprus where they own property, have residency rights, sometimes thanks to
holding dual nationality, or have close relatives, according to industry
sources.
They are paying from 16,000-25,000 euros per flight, a fee
that can cover up to 13 passengers, the sources added.
"People are tired of lockdown living ... they are
looking for ways to get out," said Aleksandr Osit, owner of the JETVIP
broker company which says it has registered a surge in one-way Europe-bound
flights in the last two months.
The use of private aircraft when most airlines stopped
flying is not illegal and not unique to Russia, with reports of Chinese flying
home from the United States and Americans landing in elite domestic vacation
spots.
In March, there were 250 private jet round flights between
Moscow and Europe, flight tracking data from 80 planes registered with Russian
and European charter firms show, though the data did not specify how many
people were on board each.
Flights continued in April, albeit falling to 61 round trips
that month despite Russia suspending regular and commercial charter flights to
and from Russia with some exceptions and locking down Moscow, the epidemic's
epicentre.
The frequency of such flights rose to 107 between May 1-26.
Three aviation sources said the number of Russians flying
into the country in March outweighed those leaving at a time when Russia had a
relatively low coronavirus count and European countries were reporting far
greater numbers.
That trend reversed over time, the three sources added, and
more people are leaving Russia, which now has the third highest number of
coronavirus cases in the world, though with a relatively low official mortality
rate.
Jet Partners, which offers private jet flights, said it was
experiencing an increase in requests for destinations in France, Spain, Cyprus,
Britain and other European countries.
"People believe that it is safer for them to be at
their private residences abroad," said Margarita Lomakina, the company's
commercial director.
Stanislav Kruglov, an account manager with Vip Group Aero,
said he had received dozens of requests from mid-April for flights to Vienna,
Larnaca and Riga from individuals and families with children.
The Sirius Aero private jet airline said prices for flights
were 20-30 percent lower in April and May compared to the same period last
year.
Rosaviatsia, Russia's federal aviation industry, declined to
comment on the patterns in private jet use.
Comments
Post a Comment