Soaring delays in commercial travel may boost business aviation growth, says expert

THOUGH the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has reported that 5.5 per cent annual growth in air passenger traffic was recorded by the airlines in 2014. A report however revealed that almost 700 commercial flights are cancelled globally and 470 515 trips delayed in January 2015.

While the situation might be looking gloomy for a commercial sector, it can become an opportunity for business aircraft operators. 

Meanwhile, it might be hard to assign monetary value to millions of courage lost by leisure travellers having to spend a part of their holidays in the departure lounges or gloomy hotels, the price that business travellers pay for the disruptions on their schedules may amount to millions of dollars. 

  For instance, the United States travel association data unveils that in 2014 alone the flight delays/cancellations of scheduled commercial flights cost American travellers 8.5 billion dollars, not to mention the lost time, missed connections and disrupted plans.

  But flight delays/cancellations are not the only issue causing headaches to air travellers who opt for commercial flying these days. As stated by the Department of Transportation in its latest Air Travel Consumer Report, last year there were 21.8 million bags mishandled in the U.S. alone. 

  However, this number is only indicative of the luggage, which was actually reported missing. Outrageously, with only 1 per cent of passengers choosing to report their missing bags, some newly emerged start-ups have actually started to benefit from selling the lost things in auctions.

  It seems that the much longed-for recovery in the market had caught commercial carriers unprepared, noted the Chief Executive Officer, Klasjet,  Vitalij Kapitonov, 

    KlasJet is a European charter carrier, specializing in private and corporate charter flights as well as comprehensive aircraft management solutions.

   Therefore, he stated that under the current circumstances, the fact that more and more businesses abandon commercial travelling and turn to business aviation for more reliable commuting solutions should raise few eyebrows. 

   Moreover, Business travellers are all about time. Since a single minute on a CEO’s schedule could cost thousands or even hundreds of thousands, more and more executives and entrepreneurs have actually started viewing private aviation as an insurance against many service-related disruptions, common to commercial aviation services. 

  The data from the Air travel Consumer Report unveils that 6.87 per cent of delays are caused by late aircraft arrivals and 5.09 per cent by passenger service-related issues. Keeping in mind that none of these are applicable to business aviation it’s no wonder why business travellers are increasingly keen to opt for private jets.