International Charter Operators – Charter Report 2022

In the previous section of the report we looked at charter operators based in Asia-Pacific. However, operators that are not based in the region also play an important role in the Asia-Pacific charter market. The flight activities of international charter operators shown below present a comprehensive overview of their APAC flight activity.

Top Ten International Operators

When sorted by flight hours to and from Asia-Pacific, the top ten operators had a total of 37,053 flight hours in the past two years as of the end of June 2022. In general, all ten operators had more than 700 hours of flight time. Chief among the operators was VistaJet, which had the most flight hours with 19,076, accounting for more than half of the total flight hours of the top ten operators. Qatar Executive and NetJets also operated a significant number of flight hours for charter, coming in second and third place, respectively. They were followed by Air Hamburg and Elit’Avia Malta, both of which had more than 1,000 total flight hours.

Popular Departure or Arrival Countries/Regions

Among the flights of the ten operators from July 2020 to the end of June 2022, flights within Asia-Pacific and flights between Asia-Pacific and other regions accounted for 41% and 59% of the total flights, respectively.

Of the flights between the Asia-Pacific region and other regions, the top five popular locations outside APAC accounted for 73% of the total – the United Arab Emirates have the largest share of 32%, followed by the US with 25%, and then United Kingdom, Maldives and Qatar with 8%, 5% and 4%, respectively. On the other side, for the locations within Asia-Pacific, the top five also took up 73% – the largest number of flights had India as their departure or destination, accounting for 40%. Hong Kong SAR comes to the second with 10%, followed by Japan (9%), mainland China (7%), and South Korea (6%).

Top Five Most Used Aircraft Models

By the number of flights in Asia-Pacific, the Global 6000, Gulfstream G650ER, and Challenger 850 were the top three most used aircraft types. The Global 6000 overwhelms all other models by exceeding the sum of the other four models in the top five list.

Operator Profiles

VistaJet

Since being formed in 2004, the Malta-based aircraft charter operator now has offices in London, New York, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, and Dubai. It has a fleet of approximately 80 privately-owned aircraft, consisting of Bombardier Global and Challenger business jets, which cover the Medium, Large, and Long Range sectors to meet different flight demands.

VistaJet mainly provides customers with two forms of services  – a flight-hour subscription plan charged at a fixed hourly rate, and traditional charter service for customers with less frequent flying demand.

VistaJet holds a European Aircraft Operator Certificate (AOC) in Malta. In addition, VistaJet-owned and US-registered aircraft are operated under FAA Part 135 regulations by its local partner operator XOJET Aviation.

VistaJet aircraft used for charter in Asia-Pacific are mainly Long Range Global models and Large Challenger models. VistaJet has a Chinese website and an office in Hong Kong with sales, marketing, and customer service teams, focusing on the Asia-Pacific market.

It is part of the larger Vista Global Holdings group, which also includes XOJET in the US and Air Hamburg in Germany.

Qatar Executive

As a business jet subsidiary of Qatar Airways, Qatar Executive was launched during the Paris Air Show in 2009 and is headquartered in Doha.

Qatar Executive’s core business is charter, with a fleet composed of Long Range aircraft from Bombardier and Gulfstream. As part of the Qatar Airways Group, it also handles charter requests from Qatar Airways. In addition to charter, it also provides aircraft management, maintenance services, and Fixed-Base Operator (FBO) services at Doha International Airport. In 2012, Qatar Executive was appointed by Bombardier to be the Authorized Service Facility for both Challenger and Global aircraft families in the Middle East.

Qatar Executive’s charter fleet in Asia-Pacific consists of G650ER, G500, Global 5000, Global Express XRS, and Challenger 605 aircraft.

NetJets

NetJets is a private US-based fractional operator that also provides business jet charter services. It was founded in 1964 and became a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. in 1998.

NetJets has a large fleet of more than 800 aircraft with around 500 available for charter, covering all business jet size categories from Light to Long Range, and consisting of Bombardier, Cessna, and Embraer aircraft.

NetJets has three types of business, namely private jet card, shared ownership, and a private jet lease program. On top of its traditional charter service that charges per flight hour, NetJets offers jet card programs to customers who fly less than 50 hours per year. For customers with more flight demands, NetJets divides the fractional ownership of specific aircraft, and its owners can get access to the aircraft for a certain number of hours annually according to their size of the share. The lease program offers similar benefits to a shared ownership but does not require an initial capital outlay.

The most used aircraft models of NetJets in Asia-Pacific are the Large and Long Range Gulfstream G450 and global series mods, although several medium models are also being used. In 2021, NetJets invested in Shenzhen-based Amber Aviation, providing Amber with finance, training, and aircraft support.

Air Hamburg

Part of the Vista Global Holdings group, Air Hamburg is a German company based in Hamburg that was founded in 2001. It has a fleet of 45 aircraft, which is mainly composed of Legacy 600/650/650E and Cessna Citation XLS+ business jets.

Air Hamburg offers personal charter service priced per flight hour and a partner card program for frequent flyers. By way of the program, customers can become regular customers of specific private jets by purchasing flight hour packages at a discounted rate. For urgent logistics demands, Air Hamburg also offers cargo charter services within Europe.

Charter Jets of Air Hamburg operating in Asia-Pacific mainly include Long Range Falcon 7X and Large Embraer Legacy Models.

Elit’Avia

Founded in 2006 and headquartered in Slovenia, Elit’Avia provides business jet charter and jet card services with its Air Operator Certificates (AOCs) in Slovenia and Malta. It is also a provider of aircraft management, sales, cabin outfitting and travel services.

Elit’Avia operates around ten aircraft, all Large and Long Range aircraft from Bombardier, Gulfstream and Dassault. In Asia-Pacific Global 6000 and Challenger 650 are the models used by Elit’Avia for charter services.

In 2018, Elit’Avia partnered with Singapore-based charter operator OJets, to expand its presence in Asia.

Falcon Aviation Services

Falcon Aviation Services was established in 2006, based in the United Arab Emirates. The operator provides jet and helicopter charter services, as well as aircraft management, maintenance, and Fixed-Base Operator (FBO) services. In addition, it also provides search and rescue operations for the Armed Forces of the United Arab Emirates.

Falcon Aviation Services’ fleet consists of an Embraer Lineage 1000, a Gulfstream G450, and G550 private aircraft for jet charter. Among them, the Long Range G550 is the most commonly used model.

Flexjet

Founded in 1995 as a division of Bombardier Aerospace and currently owned by Directional Aviation, Flexjet is one of the largest American providers of fractional jet ownership, leasing, and jet card services.

As of 1 September 2022, Flexjet operates a fleet of 186 business jet, covering all business jet size categories from Light to Long Range, and consisting of Gulfstream, Bombardier and Embraer aircraft.

The most used aircraft models of Flexjet in Asia-Pacific are Long Range Gulfstream G650/ER and Global Express/XRS.

Avcon Jet

Avcon Jet is an Austria-based jet operator founded in 2007. It has about 70 business jets in operation, consisting of jets ranging from Light models such as the Citation CJ2+, to corporate airliners like the BBJ. Aside from charter, it also provides aircraft management, aircraft sales and acquisitions, aviation consulting, and aircraft asset management services.

The majority of charter jets in Asia-Pacific are Long Range Global models and Gulfstream G550s and G650s, in addition to the Falcon 2000LX.

Hyperion Aviation

Established in 2012, Hyperion Aviation is a charter operator based in Malta. It offers both traditional charter and jet card charter services, as well as emergency medical services. In addition, a series of business jet management and aircraft sales services are also available. Hyperion Aviation’s fleet includes aircraft from Gulfstream, Hawker, Bombardier, Dassault, and Cessna.

Hyperion Aviation mainly uses Long Range and Medium models for charter in the Asia-Pacific, with the most flown model being Global 6000.

Empire Aviation Group

Founded in the United Arab Emirates in 2007, Empire Aviation is a provider of aviation services including aircraft sales, aircraft management, aircraft charter, and CAMO services.

Empire Aviation has offices in the UAE, Oman, India, Africa, Egypt, and East Asia, and operates more than 20 business jets. Its fleet consists of Bombardier Global 6000s, Gulfstream G650s, and Embraer Legacy 650s. Empire Aviation holds an Air Operator Certificate (AOC) from the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (A6-) and certification of registration from the San Marino Civil Aviation Authority (T7-).

Empire Aviation uses Long Range, Large and Medium models for charter activities in the Asia-Pacific.