Stuff Digital Edition

Business booms for private jet companies as high-rollers return.

Melanie Carroll

When Peter van Dyk started his private jet service business nearly 30 years ago, it handled about six aircraft a year, mostly from the US.

That had risen to almost two private jets a day, or about 45 to 50 aircraft at month at his Queenstown base alone.

It was getting busy before Covid-19 with travellers from places such as the US, China, Europe, and even Russia, but now the borders have opened, so have the floodgates.

‘‘Since Covid, I think people have now realised that travelling on a commercial airliner with 200 or 300 other people isn’t a good idea,’’ said van Dyk, owner and chief executive of Capital Jet Services and Queenstown Corporate Jet Services.

‘‘Since July this year, when the borders opened, it’s just been nonstop flights coming into New Zealand, all tourism, mainly from the US.’’

Whereas previously people might have flown commercially to New Zealand then chartered an aircraft to get around the country, now they are buying their own or chartering an aircraft the whole way.

To charter a jet from Los Angeles to Auckland for five people return would cost between US$207,000 (NZ$330,734) and US$455,000, depending on the aircraft model, according to New York-based private jet charter company Evojets.

That is still cheaper than the US$70 million price tag for a Gulfstream G650. On top of that, there are the running costs, including fuel prices which have pretty much doubled over the past year, van Dyk said.

‘‘These are not budget people, they’re people that use these aeroplanes like we use our cars. It’s a mode of transport for them, and they have them wait till they’re ready and off they go again.’’

New Zealanders would ring wanting to charter a jet, not expecting the price of at least $15,000 to $20,000 Auckland to Wellington return.

‘‘So Kiwis aren’t used to these big prices, they think, ‘oh, we can do it for a couple of grand’. A lot of people have no idea what it’s going to cost.’’

About 80% of arrivals were in New Zealand for a holiday, rather than business, he said.

‘‘When they come they inject a lot of money into the economy as well, they’re all high spenders. They’re hiring helicopters and staying at all the high-end lodges.’’

Fixed-based operators (FBOs) such as van Dyk’s are essentially private terminals at an airport, down to the passenger lounge and checks by Customs and Ministry for Primary Industries staff.

They offered total privacy and speed to people for whom money was no object, said Caroline Blanchfield, Garden City Helicopter Aviation’s (GCH) marketing manager.

GCH bought a long-haul jet, a Bombardier Challenger 604, in early 2020, just before the

‘‘These are not budget people, they’re people that use these aeroplanes like we use our cars.’’ Peter van Dyk

Owner of Capital Jet Services and Queenstown Corporate Jet Services

pandemic struck. Despite the ominous start, it had been busy with business and leisure travel in New Zealand and the Pacific. Blanchfield said the jet would be in the hangar for only one or two days over the next month.

‘‘We got that jet because it meets the market that we were looking to attract. It’s got 10 seats, it’s spacious, it’s a standup, it’s not a crouched-down little plane.’’

Blanchfield said it took an hour from wheels up at its FBO at Christchurch Airport to landing at Auckland, and less than that to get to Queenstown.

That appealed to businesspeople who did not want to spend the best part of a working day getting between Christchurch and a regional centre such as Napier.

‘‘They can go up there in the morning, have their business meeting and be back by lunchtime, and that’s what we saw straight after we could fly again. These were people who desperately needed to go and carry on their businesses.’’

The summer was shaping up to be busy, Blanchfield said, with the luxury travel market performing ahead of expectations.

Van Dyk said business had boomed since the borders opened, and it showed no signs of slowing down.

In Queenstown , all the luxury vehicles for hire over the Christmas-new year period were booked months ago.

Aircraft parking at airports was also scarce. Queenstown could accommodate only five or six big private jets at a time, so people had to book months ahead to get a slot during the busy summer period, he said.

BUSINESS

en-nz

2022-11-27T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-11-27T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/282797835386296

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