COVID-19 will continue to benefit bizjets into the future

During COVID, we saw a lot of people just beginning to wake up to the benefits of charter services. And to this day, we are still seeing those clients continue to support business charter operations as a viable option for their travel needs. Clients enjoy the flexibility and efficiency that business aviation and charter provide. For example, they no longer have to waste additional time to go through extensive security and boarding measures of a domestic carrier, or wait for a connecting flight or stay somewhere overnight if your meetings run too late for another flight. By using our services, businesses can actually save money, and it’s something that more and more businesses are aware of now. 

However, COVID has opened up other opportunities for us to upsize and expand our fleet of aircraft. Currently, the used aircraft market is ideal, and there has been good opportunities to purchase pre-owned aircraft, both in Australia and overseas. Additionally, our managed fleet, made up of fixed-wing and rotary aircraft, can be easily sold, often within our group, as owners upgrade to larger aircraft. Following our acquisition of JetCity, we now have one of the most diverse fleets in terms of charter aircraft and helicopters, which we largely already covered prior to the acquisition. However, the new addition of the Lear 45, and the Citation X, it just rounds out the whole fleet. We now have everything a client might need in-house; from a Beechcraft Baron, up to a Bombardier Global Express. With our fleet, we have the capability to operate on unsealed strips, or run domestic flights, all the way up to transcontinental flights. We can seat up to 50 guests with our Embraer 145 LR, so we basically have all our bases covered.

On a regulatory side, new CASA requirements will be front of mind for many in the business aviation sector. For us, Australian Corporate Jet Centres, JetCity and Australian Aircraft Engineering are working in tandem with our management and advisers to meet said new requirements. There are some major changes that have been introduced, particularly in regard to maintenance, so we really want to be on the front foot with that, as will the industry as a whole. 

More broadly, the future is also bright in terms of future jet development. Manufacturers are often in consultation with operators to gauge interest and insight, to develop the next generation of business jets that meet client requirements. 

Some of the most exciting developments in the space include the potential return of supersonic air travel, particularly in the business aviation sector. Aerion, for example, is developing a supersonic business jet, which could ultimately become a valuable tool for clients that need to minimise travel time, and can afford this new type of technology. It’s a very exciting development for the industry, and one that we are monitoring closely. It will also be extremely interesting and important to follow the development of new aviation technologies, and how the various civil aviation authorities around the globe handle the introduction of such technologies.