Luxury holiday market fuels private aviation growth
Growth in the luxury holiday market is fuelling an increase in demand for private aviation, according to leading European air taxi operator GlobeAir.
The company, which operates 16 Citation Mustang jets, estimates that around 67 per cent of the flights it operates are for ‘leisure’ purposes – corresponding figures in 2016 and 2015 were around 62 per cent and 59 per cent respectively.
In terms of top luxury ‘holiday’ destinations this summer, GlobeAir has reported a growing interest from clients chartering jets to the Côte d’Azur, in particular to St.Tropez, followed by Cannes and Nice. The second most popular destination is Ibiza, in the Balearic Islands, which is attracting air taxi traffic for the third year in a row, and Olbia, in Sardinia, where figures grew by 165 per cent.
| Ranking |
Most popular holiday destination airports GlobeAir is chartered to take clients to | % increase since 2016 |
| 1 | Côte d’Azur | 7% |
| 2 | Ibiza | 3% (lots of restrictions) |
| 3 | Olbia | 165% |
Mauro De Rosa, GlobeAir’s chief marketing and sales officer, said: “Luxury travel saw a compound annual growth rate of 4.5% between 2011 and 2015, compared to an overall figure of 4.2%. Over the next decade the corresponding figures are expected to be 6.2% and 4.8%, as growth in the luxury travel market accelerates even more.”
GlobeAir offers a range of bespoke services including ground transportation, helicopter transfers, tailored tours, cargo flights and more.
The company’s fleet of Citation Mustang jets is able to connect to more than 1,500 airports around Europe, including those with a short runway not accessible to commercial airlines.
