Beckhams make use of private jet
With this week’s newspapers dominated by David Beckham’s Achilles injury, it was interesting to see how the Beckhams used a private jet as part of their itinerary. This demonstrates a couple of ways in which customers make use of private jets.
Firstly the itinerary itself – Victoria Beckham’s outward journey from LA to Turku and their joint return trip – would have been very complicated by scheduled airlines. Turku, where Beckham was being treated at the Mehilainen Clinic, isn’t serviced by overseas flights from the US or UK. So Mrs Beckham’s scheduled options from LA were a 3-leg marathon changing in Newark and then Copenhagen, which would take almost 24 hours including connections. Or to connect via London, a similar length journey including a change in Helsinki. Like the Beckhams, many private jet customers will choose a combination of scheduled airline and private jet for a long range trip across continents. Travelling the whole distance by private jet would probably have been cost-prohibitive and unnecessary but by using a jet for the European leg, they would have saved several hours of travelling and connection time.
Lufthansa realised this requirement to offer their long-haul first class passengers a connecting private jet to complete their journey to the final destination. After initially partnering with NetJets, Lufthansa now have their own a fleet of Citations and Challenger aircraft. Either strategy makes sense to an airline, as the important issue is offering the end customer a one-stop shop for both the commercial scheduled airline leg and the connecting private jet charter flight. We can expect post-recession, that many other airlines will start offering a private jet connecting service.
For a high profile celebrity, a private jet may be a frequent mode of transport when in full health. But private jets are particularly useful when a passenger is ill or injured. Not everyone has the option at their disposal of course, but there’s no question that the private jet experience – no queues, no hassles and of course the privacy and comfort offered onboard – would be first choice for most people in that situation if cost wasn’t a consideration. I’m often asked how much a journey would cost by private jet charter – in this case, to charter a medium jet from London to Turku return would cost around EUR 17,000.
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