Private aviation companies continue transporting passengers while following strict hygiene rules

As the need to transport workers, business people and repatriate citizens during coronavirus lockdown was still there, private charter companies took on a mission to help people move in a safest possible manner.

During the month of March, many private charter companies were over flooded with requests to repatriate people to their home countries. Some operators said to have reached a 400% increase in requests and an influx of customers who previously had never flown private. The main factor contributing to the significant increase in private jet bookings is the 30 times lower risk to an infected person when compared to traditional airlines. Currently, the private aviation sector is recovering faster than scheduled aviation with many private jets being reactivated into service to support growing demand for transportation services between markets without direct connection.

KlasJet, a private charter company operating a fleet of VIP configured 737 aircraft, has said that the demand has been rising steadily and previous clients have started to return and use operator’s services again. Rita Domkute, the CEO of KlasJet told: “At the peak of coronavirus pandemic, flights were still operated, although at much lower volume when compared to the same period in 2019, but currently we are seeing an increase in requests and signs of recovery in all sectors utilizing business aviation as a mean of transport. We are still employing security measures by providing our clients and crews with special safety kits which include a medical mask, disinfectant and instructions on how to stay protected throughout the duration of any flight no matter whether it is cargo or passenger one. Also, our aircraft are equipped with only 56-104 business class seats, which means that every passenger is getting more space when compared to scheduled airlines transporting 140-160 people on the same sized aircraft. All recommendations and health protection kits are created by following hygiene standards for flights created by EASA. We are also taking measures to minimize contacts between crews, thus our personnel is always working in the same group and is not mixed into other groups of flight attendants or pilots. Since flights are still subject to strict health regulations KlasJet will continue to disinfect its aircraft more frequently and maintain state-of-the-art air filters in their tip-top shape to provide clients and workers with a safe environment to be in. Our aircraft have HEPA filters installed which filter out 99.5% of bacteria, germs and viruses and are replaced during every C check of our aircraft, as a result we can guarantee to have the safest environment possible for travel during the current pandemic. KlasJet team has also been working hard to be able to operate under stricter quarantine rules and offer roundtrip flights to any market whether it is hardly impacted one or not, we are committed to serving every client in need. So far all of our passengers have successfully reached their destinations enjoying comfort and complying with safety measures and we are always happy to bring new clients onboard our aircraft. ”

Other business aviation companies have seen a steady recovery with Oceania being only 4% down when compared to the same period last year. Germany has also seen recovery in its domestic market with flights operating at about the same volume as they did in June 2019. As the countries in Europe are slowly reopening their borders the recovery is expected to spike up in European region, mainly flying between cities in Europe. While the current private charter flights volume is still lower than in June 2019, in some market the business aviation industry may reach 2019 levels and possibly see growth at the end of the year.