It’s been one of the more intriguing subplots of the Middle East conflict: scores of private jets zipping out of the region’s safer airports as the super-rich flee from the threat of Iranian missiles.
While exact numbers are hard to come by, one provider, Air Charter Service, says it has arranged 70 flights over the past week. The Surbiton-based company has even stationed one of its executives in the region to deal with the influx of queries from those considering a private jet.
Ask around in the world of private aviation, though, and it turns out that booking your own jet isn’t always as easy as some make out. “Whenever geopolitical tensions escalate, we inevitably see an increase in what the industry calls ‘grey flights’,” says Dr Christopher Williams-Martin, CEO of London and Dubai-based private jet management company FlyEliteJets. “These are aircraft that are neither licensed nor insured for commercial charter.”
And getting a private jet back to London certainly isn’t cheap, with one operator estimating it should cost around £160,000 for a six-passenger jet, including a refuelling stop.
A logistical nightmare
It’s far from simple, though. Even with the reputable brokers, pricing isn’t always easy to predict. Browse social media for charter jets and it’s easy to find adverts of brokers touting one-away trips from London to Nice for just £7,000 or so – usually in a smaller private jet like a six-seater Learjet 45. But that doesn’t always include what one broker refers to as the “mission-specific variables” (meaning hidden costs).
For a start, there’s the cost of getting the jet to your departure airport. While decent brokers will have access to fleets of charter jets around the world, there’s no guarantee there will be one ready to go from your chosen departure airport. That means someone has to cover the costs of getting the jet there.
That’s a particular issue for those in the Middle East right now, says Joe Gallimore from Air Charter Service. “Given that local fleets have been grounded by airspace closures, the plane will probably have to come in from Europe or Asia,” he says.
In normal circumstances, the charter company might be able to sell those outgoing seats to one of their existing customers, perhaps offering them at a discount price. Right now, though, they aren’t exactly inundated with offers from customers looking to fly to the Middle East, meaning the costs will probably fall on the person ordering the jet.
