Kathy Leroy, VIP Private Jet Charter Manager:

“Throughout the past few months, COVID-19 has caused border restrictions across the globe. Many commercial airlines grounded their fleets due to the decrease in demand, and the knock-on effect caused a capacity-crunch within the air passenger industry. Nothing like this has been seen before in aviation. Our VIP and commercial passenger departments across the board have played a crucial role in the evacuation and repatriation response, bringing people home who have been subject to scheduled flight cancellations.

Over the recent weeks, Chapman Freeborn has noticed an increase in private jet demand, and we expect this to continue as countries now emerge from lockdowns, and travel restrictions begin to ease. Although commercial flights are beginning to recover, it is still likely to take time for them to resume the frequency and availability of routes offered before the crisis. We also anticipate businesses to consider private jet charter for essential travel.

It is not just the high net worth and very wealthy contacting us, we are seeing an increase in requests from people wanting to take a private jet somewhere nearer to home and looking at ways on how best to get to their destination with the least touchpoints in their journey. It isn’t just the luxury aspect of flying on a private jet attracting passengers anymore, but they need to feel safe and confident that they are avoiding the virus.”

About Chapman Freeborn:

The Chapman Freeborn group was established in the UK in 1973. The company has offices worldwide including North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. In the cargo market, Chapman Freeborn Airchartering specializes in the charter and lease of aircraft for a wide-ranging customer base, including freight forwarders, multinational corporations, governments, humanitarian agencies, and a host of industries around the globe. In addition to freight services, Chapman Freeborn offers specialist passenger services including private jet charters for executive travel and large aircraft for crew rotations and international group travel.

Chapman Freeborn is a family member of Avia Solutions Group, the largest aerospace business group from Central & Eastern Europe with 83 offices and production stations providing aviation services and solutions worldwide.