KUALA LUMPUR: The Covid-19 pandemic has crippled the commercial aviation industry starting with the grounding of thousands of airplanes worldwide since March 2020.
However, the pandemic has also given rise to the demand for private jet flights particularly from Southeast Asia.
VistaJet founder and chairman Thomas Flohr said the business aviation company had seen a rapid and continuous growth in the demand for private travel with an increase in the number of first-time private jet travellers seeking for reliable alternatives to commercial flights.
"The pandemic has demonstrated the clear demand for business aviation as a safer and more reliable alternative to commercial flying.
"Covid-19 and the related restrictions have brought an extensive disruption on global travel, and a steep reduction in the availability of commercial scheduled flights," he told the New Straits Times in an exclusive interview recently.
In the first quarter of 2021, VistaJet has seen an increase of 23 per cent year-on-year flight hours sold globally compared to the same quarter in 2020 with 90 per cent growth in new membership registration.
The private jet operator saw a 29 per cent increase in member registration in Asia in the second quarter 2021 compared to the same quarter in 2020, of which 44 per cent new members are from Southeast Asia.
VistaJet is the world's first and only global aviation business company founded by Flohr in 2004.
Over the years, the private jet operator has flown heads of state, corporate leaders, entrepreneurs and private individuals to 187 countries worldwide.
Meanwhile, Flohr said the demand for business travel would continue despite the increase in online meetings and conferences as high-level executives believed that in-person meetings would be more important than ever to driving success.
He said that based on the Future of Business Travel report, the two top priorities for business travel include visiting partners and vendors, attending industry events as well as managing current business relationships and building new ones.
The report is based on the latest research done by VistaJet in association with WSJ Intelligence to quantify the impact of COVID-19 on business travel.
Since July 2020, VistaJet has seen a surge of nearly 50 per cent in corporate interest around the world, which reaffirms the airline's belief that flying private continues to be a key support for business travel.
The private jet operator has launched a VistaJet Corporate Membership, a full suite of flexible travel solutions and streamlined logistics for businesses globally with minimum commitment in order to support the needs of corporate executives to keep their businesses running.
Currently, VistaJet has a fleet of over 70 aircraft including the world's largest and longest-range business jet, the Global 7500.
"VistaJet owns all of its aircraft and operates on a floating fleet. So, the aircraft go to wherever the demand is. Summer is looking extremely busy for the fleet and we expect to operate at full capacity," Flohr said.