Demand for private jets soared during pandemic, now on way down

In contrast, the movement of such aircraft had registered a growth of 48.4 per cent in April-November last year, as compared to the same period in 2020.

In absolute numbers, airports across the country logged a total of 1,78,860 general aviation aircraft movements in April-November 2019, before the pandemic.

In April-November 2020, the first year of the pandemic, despite travel beginning only in the second half of the year after lockdowns and other restrictions were lifted, there were 1,28,180 such movements. This surged to 1,90,580 in April-November 2021, but decreased to 1,59,130 in April-November 2022.

While general aviation movements include private jets and helicopters, a takeoff and landing is counted as two aircraft movements.

As India started to open domestic flights in May 2020, after a two-month-long lockdown, various high net worth individuals (HNIs) as well as companies opted for private jets for travel within the country and abroad. They also chose to charter flights for holidays with their families, leading to a record run for private jet and helicopter operators.

The shift to private aircraft helped these HNIs fly in controlled spaces with known people and reduce the number of touchpoints during flights, thus decreasing the chances of getting the infection. According to industry data, a passenger travelling by a scheduled commercial flight has to pass through at least 280 touchpoints as compared to 40 touchpoints while flying private jets.

But this year, with the Covid curve falling, many of these people returned to flying first class or business class on commercial airlines.

“During Covid, there was a lot of panic and HNIs as well as corporate houses moved to chartered flights to fly with people they know. With normalcy returning, in terms of flight network of airlines, increase in number of vaccinated individuals and the pandemic reaching an endemic stage, these HNIs and corporate houses have moved to commercial flights,” said Santosh Sharma, founder of bookmyjet, an online booking portal for business jets. Sharma said many of these HNIs were individuals who had never flown in private jets till Covid.

Post-pandemic, after regulating the number of flights an airline can operate, the government opened up the domestic sector in October last year, and allowed regular international flights from March this year.

While the business jet industry is struggling to sustain the Covid momentum, scheduled airlines in India saw a record number of passengers in the current year, despite high airfares, hotel tariffs and inflation. India registered the highest-ever domestic passenger number of 4,35,500 in a day on December 24, breaching the December 2019 high of 4,20,000.