News Release

Asia Pacific Business Jet Charter Report released by Asian Sky Group; shows latest charter trends during COVID-19

Hong Kong business aviation consulting firm Asian Sky Group (ASG) has released its third edition of the Asia Pacific Business Jet Charter Report, sponsored by the Bermuda Civil Aviation Authority (BCAA), providing updated data on the status, demand and future of the regional business jet charter fleet. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the subsequent travel restrictions and quarantine measures implemented across the globe, the charter industry has been thrust into a new light, with charter now crucial for repatriation and medical flights, as well as for the transport of much-needed supplies.

The 2020 edition of the report provides an overview of the charter fleet in Asia-Pacific, including a breakdown by country, manufacturer, operator, size-category, aircraft model and aircraft registry. The report delves into the impacts of COVID-19 on the charter market, with an overview of flight activity since the start of the pandemic, popular fight routes throughout the pandemic, a look at travel restrictions to date and cargo flight activity. Also covered is illegal charter, outlining the differences between illegal and legal charter operations, an overview of charter aircraft and estimated hourly pricing, and a summary of the top charter mobile apps available.

Highlights of the Report include:

- As of June 2020, the Asia-Pacific business jet charter fleet stood at 327 jets, a reduction of six jets (1.8% decrease) from the 333 in 2018. The average age of the fleet is 15.9 years. And, the fleet represents 27% of the total number of business jets in the region.

- Despite seeing a decrease to its charter fleet (losing 17 charter aircraft, a 18% decrease), mainland China remained the largest regional charter fleet in terms of fleet size with 78 jets as of June 2020. Many of the reductions to the mainland fleet were in the long-range and large-cabin categories.

- Singapore was the main growth driver for all the Asia-Pacific region and saw an increase of 10 charter jets (45% growth) on 2018.

- Textron and Bombardier have the largest charter market share with 28% each, followed by Gulfstream (17%) and Embraer (10%). In terms of size category, the region prefers larger sized charter aircraft; large and long-range charter jets represent nearly 50% of the charter jet fleet. However, light sized aircraft saw the largest net addition between 2018 to 2020 by eight. Most of the additions were to Australia and are mostly used for charter operations within Oceania.

- Gulfstream G450, Embraer Legacy 650 and Dassault Falcon 2000, all of which belong to the large-size category, are the most popular charter models in the Asia-Pacific region with 15 jets each.

- The past two years have been difficult for regional business jet operators in the Asia-Pacific region, as can be seen from the slowing growth in major markets like greater China. Still, Deer Jet continued its reign as the largest regional charter fleet operator in 2020. Notably, many charter operators also managed to increase their operational capacity; Sino Jet by five, OJets by four, Seletar Jet by four and ExecuJet by three.

- In terms of flight activity, the beginning of 2020 saw a significant decrease for both commercial and private, as countries imposed restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Understandably, there was an upsurge in cargo charter bookings, mostly medical PPE. However, due to travel restrictions, the demand could not be met by the supply. To offset cost lost by the restriction of passenger travel, several airliners reconfigured to fly cargo. This trend is expected to continue as long as travel restrictions are imposed.

- Charter flight activity in 2019 was mostly for short-haul leisure flights while charter flights in 2020 have notably been used for long-haul repatriation flights due to COVID-19. Still, the top two charter flight routes in 2020 are: Hong Kong to Shanghai and Hong Kong to Male in the Maldives.

- Illegal charter is an ongoing issue in the Asia-Pacific charter market, particularly in the current environment. Several operators operate for-profit flights illegally and often advertise these flights at a lower cost. These illegal charters do not have the correct authorisations or operating certificates, and are held to a lower maintenance and safety standard as flights operated for compensation. Regional operators are now working to educate their clients of the risks of illegal charter.

To complement the data, the Charter Report features interviews and commentary from BCAA discussing the benefits of the Bermuda aircraft registry; Sino Jet sharing information on Sino Jet Academy and its onboard service; King Leader Club speaking on its membership programme; Amber Aviation offering a look into operating a business jet during COVID-19; Air Charter Service giving insight on the air cargo industry during COVID-19; and law firm HFW speaking on illegal charter.

To learn more about the aircraft charter market in Asia Pacific, join ASG during Virtual Charter Week (August 3rd to August 6th). In a series of online presentations, panel discussions, Q&A sessions and podcasts, viewers can expect an abundance of information on the regional charter market, including flight activity, latest travel restrictions, information on air cargo and insights from the industry.