Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category

UK airport consultation: A pilot’s view

Thursday, January 19th, 2012
Thames estuary airport

What the proposed Thames Estuary airport could look like

Yesterday it was announced that the government’s consultation on a new UK aviation hub will begin in March. The process will focus on the need to retain the UK’s status as a major aviation hub and the options for siting a new airport close to London – including a detailed assessment of the ‘Boris Island’  Thames Estuary airport proposal.

This is welcome news –  given we have previously built our biggest London airport in exactly the wrong spot from a safety perspective. Here’s why.

  • In order to reduce the ground speed required for flight and the length of runway required, aircraft take off and land into the wind. This means that, at Heathrow, aircraft are predominately flying low and slow over Greater London to land on the two westerly runways – as 80% of winds in the UK are westerly.
  • Heathrow, like most airports, has a mandatory 3 degree glide slope approach. This results in a descent of 300ft per mile on the ground – and given Heathrow’s position, means aircraft over the centre of our capital city are descending through 1500ft over our most populated areas.
  • Taking these factors into consideration and looking at London as a clock face, the worst possible position for an airport is therefore at 9 o’clock – where we have inadvertently built our biggest airport. Far better to have aircraft descending and landing at airports in the 12 o’clock (Luton), 3 o’clock (proposed Thames Estuary) or 6 o’clock position (Gatwick) where their approaches will not affect such large areas of population.
  • Landing is the most critical stage from a safety perspective – accident data shows that the majority of incidents occur on the approach. This is when an aircraft is most vulnerable, flying low and slow. As we saw with BA 777 crash in January 2008, an incident over London is an accident waiting to happen. Not to mention the nightmare scenario of a ground-to-air missile attack on low-flying aircraft coming into Heathrow.

The majority of pilots agree: We have in inadvertently built London’s major airport in the worst possible position. In their consultation for a new UK airport hub in London, the government should consider Manston (in Kent) or the Thames Estuary as the only viable locations.

Posted in Air Traffic Control, Aircraft, Airlines, Airports, British Airways, Closest airports, Investment, Pilot, Politics, Travel trends, Weather | No Comments »

Private Jet Predictions for 2012

Monday, January 16th, 2012

Despite the continuing economic downturn, the next 12 months promises some exciting times for the private aviation industry.

Key factors in 2012 will include London’s Olympics, the global economy and advances in technology, all of which look set to have an impact on the private aviation industry as a whole.

 

Here are my predictions for the year ahead in private aviation:

1. London Olympics
Demand for private jet flights, helicopters and (most importantly) parking; will be very high. London’s regional airports such Oxford, Southend and Lydd will become medium stay parking for large numbers of private jets that inner London Airports cannot accept. Customers wanting a flight to or from London during the Olympics need to book early to guarantee availability. London Olympic Flights

2. RAF Northolt Airport
RAF Northolt will become London’s premier private airport. As the UK’s Ministry of Defence increasingly needs to generate cash from its assets, the current limitations of 10 private jet landings per day at Northolt will be increased. As RAF Northolt is within the M25 and a short drive from the centre of London, RAF Northolt could become the equivalent of Le Bourget in Paris.

3. Aviation Taxes
In 2012 there are two key aviation tax issues:
i) Regional taxes: The Italian government has started 2012 by announcing that non-Italian jets parked for more than 48 hours at Italian airports will be heavily taxed, which means that private jets will simply park in neighbouring countries.
ii) Air Passenger Duty: The UK government will work out how to collect Air Passenger Duty (APD) on private aviation flights. The current plan is to leverage Air Passenger Duty on the average passenger count (rather than actual number of passengers on each flight). However the government also needs to plan how to collect the tax from overseas operators for flight departures from the UK.

4. Pilot Shortages
Currently private aviation is facing a future of pilot shortages. Many factors are causing private jet charter pilot shortages including less ex-military pilots (due to the global reduction in military personnel); scheduled airline pilot demands and planning; and lack of training scheme and funding availability for private pilots.

Pilot training schools currently estimate that 96 percent of new pilots are interested in an airline career, compared to just 4% planning a career in business aviation. Whilst this has the potential to limit private aviation industry expansion, in 2012 industry bodies such as EBAA and BACA will be looking for solutions. Private Jet Pilot Shortages

5. Speed of Response
In the current competitive market, with aircraft operators competing for every flight, a vital customer requirement is how fast the flight quote is returned. Obviously price is a crucial factor in private jet charter Along with increased price transparency, customers now expect increased responsiveness at every stage of the process – both through instant online pricing or by 24-hour telephone.

6. Private Aviation Goes Mobile
Increasingly customers and flight crew expect to be able to request, book and manage private jet charter from their mobile or tablet device. Despite doubts about the value of “apps” for high value transactions we see the private aviation industry as a whole concentrating on developing mobile and tablet apps to for post-booking management. Expect to be able to view and change flight details on your way to the airport soon.

7. Experimental Business Models
In 2011 the private aviation industry saw the development of “social jet-sharing” and new empty sector business models. In 2012 we expect entrepreneurs in private aviation to come up with different private jet models to produce solutions to the traditional issues of industry inefficiency and the perceived high costs of private jet charter. We’ll also see how successfully the new business models address the issue of maintaining customer flexibility and privacy whilst satisfying multiple customer flights.

8. Aircraft Trends
Look out for military technology in corporate jet designs. Embraer’s Legacy 500 (possibly coming to the market at around $18m) uses “fly by wire” flight controls in a medium sized corporate jet. Meanwhile the new Gulfstream G650 promises to be an exciting option for the private jet set.

9. The Rise of Private Jet Charter
Again due to difficult global economic conditions, we expect to see private jet users increasingly move away from cash upfront card, fractional and ownership options towards ad hoc jet charter. As the charter industry matures and offers clear price transparency and reliable VIP service, charter becomes a viable option for those trading down from aircraft owning or factional and card schemes.

10. Emerging markets
Private jet manufacturers are seeing strong demand from the Asian market. The trend in Europe is generally for unbranded aircraft, whereas in Asia expect to see corporate and individual names emblazoned on the side of aircraft.

So in summary I expect to see some highs and lows, but the Olympics promises a fantastic opportunity to showcase the industry.

Posted in Aircraft, Emerging markets, Innovation, Investment, iPad, iPhone app, London 2012 Olympics, Pilot, Politics, Price comparison, Private jet charter, Recession, Top 10 | No Comments »

Chancellor gives date for introducing APD to private jet flights

Wednesday, November 30th, 2011

In his Autumn statement yesterday, the chancellor George Osborne announced that Air Passenger Duty on private jet flights would be introduced in April 2013. His statement read “The Government will proceed with the extension of Air Passenger Duty (APD) to flights taken aboard business jets, effective from 1 April 2013. Details will be set out in the Government’s response to the APD consultation on 6 December 2011″.

The extension of APD to business aviation was announced earlier this year in March’s Budget with many expecting it to come into operation next year in April 2012, alongside the increases in APD bands for airline passengers (the details of which will be announced next week). Some commentators are seeing this as a delay, although a start date for APD on business aviation wasn’t clearly set out.

The timings may be unclear but I’m not sure the Chancellor needs to drag his heels, if APD is to be calculated the same way for private jet passengers as it is for airlines. It would add a relatively small increase to the costs of a private charter flight and would be unlikely to cause much alarm with passengers.

Currently, the duty applies to airline flights in bands according to both the distance of the journey and the class of seat. Our average passenger payload is 2.8 per flight, so the impact on a return flight from London to Paris would be to increase the cost overall by 3.5 percent (£134.40 on a typical £3,900 return journey). Or by 2.5 percent on a longer journey, such as London to Cairo (when the increase would be £672 on a typical cost of £26,900)*.

Two areas remain unclear

That said, it is not yet clear if APD will be calculated the same way for business jet passengers – ie according to distance travelled and seat pitch. Should the Chancellor introduce a new APD band for private jet passengers, the reaction may be different.

The other issue I see is with collection of APD from customers. Business jet flights are like taxis and flights departing from the UK can be operated by UK-based operators or by overseas operators whose aircraft happen to be here. UK operators will undoubtedly introduce robust processes to collect APD from passengers and pass this revenue to the Treasury, but who will ensure that overseas operators do the same on flights departing from the UK?
For example a team of US executives coming into Europe from the US for a series of meetings will fly from the UK to other points in Europe. Will they be asked to pay APD to their US-based operator? With a relatively small number of passengers compared to airlines, its important that the administration effort created by APD does not become disproportionate to the revenue raised.

If those issues are solved, I also believe the industry will embrace the change. In the current economic climate, the business aviation sector is embracing the need for more transparency and new ways of operating. Introducing APD for private jet flights is just one way in which it is moving forward and integrating with the travel industry as a whole. Other key areas of change are making business jet flights more widely available through travel agents and providing online aggregation and booking.

VIP service, privacy and comfort are still very much part of private aviation’s appeal, but the stereotype of the ‘fat cat’ private jet user is largely a thing of the past. Private jet charter is increasingly being seen as a viable and comparable form of time-efficient travel, with two thirds of European flights going where airlines don’t operate a direct service**; and offering optimal scheduling flexibility.

And of course, the industry is increasingly in demand when airline flights cannot meet demand, such as for recent evacuation flights out of Japan and the Middle East, or during the snowfall and ash cloud crises which affected Europe last year.

These are the current rates of APD applicable since 1 November 2010 – increases will be announced later this year:

STANDARD APD RATES
Band A (0-2000 miles) – £24
Band B (2001 – 4000 miles) – £120
Band C (4001 – 6000 miles) – £150
Band D (6000+ miles) – £170
(Standard rates apply when seat pitch exceeds 1.016 metres / 40 inches)

REDUCED APD RATES
Band A (0-2000 miles) – £12
Band B (2001 – 4000 miles) – £60
Band C (4001 – 6000 miles) – £75
Band D (6000+ miles) – £85
(Reduced rates apply when seat pitch is less than 1.016 metres / 40 inches)

*Charter flight costs are market estimates using the PrivateFly.com online cost calculator. Prices are subject to availability.

**Source: EUROCONTROL Air Traffic statistics

 

Posted in Air Passenger Duty, Aircraft, Airlines, Business, Business travel, George Osbourne, Industrial action, Politics, Price comparison, Private jet charter, Strikes, Time-saving, Weather | No Comments »

Ed Miliband’s view on Private Equity

Thursday, September 29th, 2011

After his flagship ‘new bargain’ conference speech earlier this week, the labour leader Ed Miliband is attracting accusations of being anti-business, given the speech included an attack on corporate ethics. He described Private Equity companies as ‘asset strippers’ with the ‘wrong values’ who do not create jobs.

I have been given a different ‘bargain’. We were pleased to announce yesterday that PrivateFly has achieved its goal of reaching £2 million of investment funding, which will fund our expansion into international markets.

£1 million of this was from Private Equity company Foinavon Credit Fund. The capital injection will allow us to start exporting our unique, online private jet booking software into new European markets and will generate employment for 10 new UK-based staff and additional UK agency spend (we are currently looking at bringing back some of our outsourced agency resource to the UK).

Thanks to Private Equity, PrivateFly.com has been given a flying start. Maybe Mr Miliband would prefer other UK start ups were left queuing at the gate.

Posted in Business, Ed Miliband, Innovation, Investment, Politics, Private jet charter | No Comments »

EasyJet or Private Jet – the growing breed who shun the middle ground

Tuesday, April 12th, 2011

Following the news that Prime Minister David Cameron and wife Samantha are back from their short break in Spain, where they travelled by Ryanair (and were snapped waiting to board at Stansted), comes the announcement the Deputy PM Nick Clegg will shun his holiday home abroad this Easter for a holiday in Norfolk (Sunday Times). These travel arrangements have provoked some considerable reaction in the British media, including a letter to the Telegraph on Saturday saying that UK PMs needed to “have more balls and travel in style”. 
 

Similarly, showbusiness and media mogul Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber mentioned in a weekend TV interview with Piers Morgan that he uses a combination of private jets and low cost airlines (in his case it was Flybe to Majorca). These are a couple of high-profile examples of a small, but growing group of travellers: Those who choose to travel by low cost airlines or by private jet – rarely on scheduled airlines. 

We see this type of customer more and more at PrivateFly.com. Their (post-recessionary) attitude is that it’s all about efficiency: One option reflects the most cost-efficient way of getting from A to B; the other, the most time-efficient. While they have the income required to travel by private jet, they are savvy enough to pick and choose the occasions where a low cost airline represents a better bet. This is normally when they can use airports close to home; when the route is (very) direct to their destination; and when the low cost carrier offers a higher frequency of flights or suitable take-off times. If these boxes are not ticked, then they will hire a private jet instead (naturally at the most cost-effective market rate) and get there in the shortest possible time, often driving right up to the aircraft’s steps, sidestepping all queues and departure lounge delays – and working solidly on the flight.

A more cynical view of the Camerons’ and Lloyd-Webbers’ travel choices might point to a certain awareness of their media profile but, certainly for the rest of this breed of traveller, efficiency is at the heart of their travel choices. Private jets are more about time-saving and less about luxury.

Posted in Aircraft, Airlines, Airports, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Business, Business travel, Celebrities, David Cameron, easyJet, Flybe, Holidays, Luxury travel, Nick Clegg, Politics, Price comparison, Prices, Pricing, Private jet charter, Ryanair, Time-saving, Travel trends | No Comments »

Spanish airport strikes averted

Tuesday, March 29th, 2011

Many holidaymakers and travel industry professionals breathed a sigh of relief earlier this week when it was announced that Spanish airport workers have voted to call off 22 days of strike action by Spain’s largest union, CCOO – averting disruption over peak holiday periods between April and August.

The strikes would have involved security staff, baggage handlers, ground crew and others at 47 Spanish airports and would have dealt a serious blow to Spain’s tourism industry in the busy Easter holidays and summer travel seasons. Apparently, Spain is seeing an increase in visitor numbers as tourists avoid trouble spots in the Middle East and North Africa such as Egypt and Tunisia.

Demand for private jet charter goes up significantly during periods of industrial action or airline disruption for other reasons such as political unrest or extreme weather conditions. Private charter operators are often able to keep passengers moving when airlines fail; by using smaller, regional airports which may be unaffected or providing ground transportation to nearby countries. And by maintaining a flexible itinerary, private jet charter operators are able to respond quickly to changes in any such situation, getting passengers airborne again quickly.

The Spanish island of Majorca is one of the destinations featured on our Easter 2011 holiday private jet hotspots. With the Easter, Royal Wedding and May bank holidays falling so close together this year, the period is proving particularly popular with UK travellers.

Posted in Airlines, Airports, Closest airports, Egypt, Evacuation flights, Holidays, Luxury travel, Politics, Private jet charter, Travel trends, Weather | No Comments »

Unpredictable times

Thursday, March 17th, 2011

With the world in the grip of unprecedented geopolitical unrest in recent weeks, the private jet charter industry is seeing a number of changes in our usual demand patterns.

Obviously the last week has been a truly devastating time for Japan, and recently we have seen significant political unrest in Libya, Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen – all of which has resulted in demand for evacuation flights from the countries affected. Governments are keen to fly their citizens to safety (today the UK Foreign Office has announced it is using private jet charter for evacuation flights out of Japan in addition to the commercial options available); global corporations are using private jet hire to evacuate their employees; and individuals are also making their own private charter arrangements to fly home, given the uncertainty with booking and confirming airline flights  – understandable in such challenging and fluctuating times.

Analysis of PrivateFly.com online flight search data (ie what people are searching for using our online flight search functionality) usually shows a fairly predictable annual pattern in terms of top destinations for private jet charter. Paris, Geneva, London, Moscow, New York and Los Angeles are popular year-round while there are predictable seasonal highs for destinations such as the Caribbean, ski resorts in Europe and the US/Canada, European summer hotspots and for the host cities of major international events, such as the London 2012 Olympics. However the last few weeks of unrest have resulted in unprecedented swings in our top 10 search destinations. Previously quieter spots  for private jet charter are appearing in the top 10 for the first time, with airports in neighbouring ‘safe’ countries to those affected (such as Cyprus and Malta) proving popular landing spots in addition to increased interest in departures from the crisis-hit countries themselves.

These are unpredictable times. Click here for further advice on evacuation flights by private jet charter.

Posted in Aircraft, Airlines, Airports, Closest airports, Egypt, Evacuation flights, Japan, Libya, Lists, London 2012 Olympics, Politics, Private jet charter, Travel trends, Weather | No Comments »

A lucky escape for private jet users: Air Passenger Duty (APD) is here to stay

Tuesday, March 15th, 2011

The UK private jet industry was saved last week from a radical change to air passenger tax regulations, that would have resulted in substantial price increases for private jet travellers. The UK government has abandoned last year’s coalition agreement to scrap the current Air Passenger Duty (APD) and replace it with a per-plane tax.

The current tax is added to each ticket sale on a per seat basis. The amount depends on the class of ticket and the distance flown : e.g. £12 for a short haul economy ticket or up to £170 for a 1st class ticket to Australia.

Exemptions to the current APD include private aviation and cargo flights plus passengers flying on a connecting flight (so a passenger flying from Edinburgh to London then catching a connecting flight to New York would only pay APD on the 2nd flight).

The proposed ’per plane’ tax would have been applied to an aircraft’s maximum takeoff weight – and would not have been proportionate to the number of passengers on-board. It would have benefitted passengers travelling by low cost airlines with high load factors such as easyJet and Ryanair, who would have paid lower fares. However passengers travelling on aircraft with large business and first class sections would have ended up paying more tax than the current system. Passengers travelling to connect with long haul flights would also have been liable to pay their share of the aircraft’s overall flight tax bill; British Airways for example would have seen a massive increase in operating tax that would have been passed onto their passengers.

But private aviation users are the passenger group with the biggest reason to celebrate this tax turnaround: With the average number of passengers on a private jet being only 2.8, the increase in taxation per passenger would have been substantial. The private jet industry, still battling out of the last few years of recession, can breathe a collective sigh of relief this week after avoiding an airborne collision with the tax man.

Posted in Air Passenger Duty, Aircraft, Airlines, British Airways, easyJet, General Election 2010, Politics, Prices, Pricing, Private jet charter, Ryanair, VAT | No Comments »

Private jets on the campaign trail

Wednesday, April 7th, 2010

The Conservatives use of private jets for David Cameron has attracted press attention on the first two days of the 2010 General Election campaign. The Tory leader travelled back to London on a private aircraft after his first day of campaigning yesterday and is expected to travel to the North West and Wales the same way today. Labour, by contrast are reported to be using the train as their preferred mode of transport around the regions, with only the occasional foray into the air.

One reason for this is, of course, the relative campaign budgets of each of the two parties. The maximum permitted spend on an election campaign is  £18.96 million (plus £350,000 for Northern Ireland) and it seems the Conservatives have this and more at their disposal, whereas Labour are reported to have a war chest of around £8 million. Labour strategists are attempting to make a virtue of this and are talking about doing things “the old-fashioned way” whereas the Tories are making clear that they will use a variety of transport options and that when a private jet is chosen, it will be for reasons of efficiency – given their aim is to visit two regions a day at the height of the campaign. Senior sources were keen to stress that Mr Cameron’s private jet trips were commercially negotiated and would be carbon offset on an annual basis.

Politics aside, it certainly illustrates the point that private jet travel makes light of a schedule that would simply defeat other modes of transport. To attend appointments in two geographically-disparate regions of the country in a single day would be logistically difficult by train or car. And scheduled flights would present a number of barriers including time wasted at the airport, inflexible flight times and potentially long ground transfers depending on the location. A private jet can take off minutes after you arrive, on a bespoke schedule designed to suit you and can access a far greater number of regional airports – which in many cases would be much closer to your destination. It’s not just politicians who recognise these efficiencies either. For today’s time-starved business executives, private aviation’s ‘hassle-free’ nature is highly attractive. However it may be surprising to many that, with careful planning, it can bring cost savings too.

At PrivateFly.com we recently flew a team of sales executives from a UK pharmaceutical company, who were on a very tight schedule, to meet with several European suppliers. They wanted to squeeze in three meetings in the same day – in Paris, Flensburg and Edinburgh – as it was important for them to minimise their time away from the office. They considered both scheduled airlines and private jet charter to compare both time and cost savings. Taking a six-seater private jet would save them nearly 30 hours in travelling time – and more surprisingly –  would also save the company £1790 in overall costs, (based on scheduled business-class fares and related overnight/ driving costs versus the cost of a small, six-seater jet).

In addition to these time and cost savings, the team found that travelling by private jet charter brought many additional advantages; they were also able to use time in the air for confidential discussions and to plan for each of the meetings in the knowledge they were in a secure and private environment. The end result was that the team arrived on time for each of the meetings – relaxed, focused and prepared.

Posted in Aircraft, Business, Business travel, General Election 2010, Politics, Private jet charter, Time-saving, VIPs | No Comments »