Private jet travel meets a primetime TV audience

This weekend UK television viewers can look out for PrivateFly on ITV’s talent show, The X Factor.

No I’m not singing (a relief to millions I’m sure). Instead we’ve been busy working with ITV to put together a promotional film for one of the primetime TV show’s viewer competitions.

We filmed with ITV in September, alongside pop stars and previous X Factor contestants JLS. Band members Marvin Humes, Oritse Williams and JB Gill are seen on the PrivateFly red carpet, before boarding a Citation XL aircraft (part of London Executive Aviation’s fleet), while they introduce the competition to viewers.

We’ll also be flying the competition winner and five friends to Paris next year – as part of the overall prize package.

I was on very familiar turf in and around a Citation XL (I fly this aircraft as a part-time private jet pilot) and at Signature’s FBO facilities at London Luton Airport, where the film was shot.

However for me, the shoot was a fascinating insight into the amount of time and effort that goes into just 30 seconds of TV screen time, on such a big TV show.

The professionalism of the crew and their attention-to-detail was exceptional.

Some aspects of the shoot were challenging, given the airport location, with ITV sound man Martin having his work cut out on a very busy day at Luton, UK’s busiest private jet airport.

This was an exciting and fun project for the PrivateFly team to work on.

And while our industry still remains a niche travel sector, it’s great to be showcasing the glamour of private aviation to over 9 million primetime TV viewers.

Only one lucky winner and five friends will actually win the flight to Paris, but millions of others will have a glimpse of what our industry has to offer.

Many thanks to the team at Luton’s Signature Flight Support. Daniel Myles and his very dedicated team could not do enough for us on the day.

And First Class Cars also kindly loaned the use one of their stunning chauffeur-driven Mercedes S-Class, to make sure JLS arrived on the red carpet in VIP style.