The onset of the festival season in India has led to a surge in demand for charter aircraft as well-heeled Indians seek to jet set to foreign shores for holidays. Private jet operators have witnessed a jump in demand during the months of October and November when Diwali and Durga Puja are celebrated.
Shanil Desai, director of Jetfleet Aviation told Economic Times that his company saw a growth of 24% during the festive seasons this year as compared to the last.
He said the demand for the charter segment for leisure and festive seasons charter saw growth this year as more international destinations eased restrictions for Indian travellers. Desai further added that his company expects the boom in vacation charter destinations to continue during December 2021 as well.
Simi Kuriakose, emergency mission controller — Asia-Pacific of Airborne Private Jet, told the newspaper that over 60% of customers are looking for international destinations such as Dubai, Thailand, Bali, Maldives and Moscow. A majority of these destinations are around Diwali and Durga Puja holidays. The most preferred booking is a single charter flight with six to eight passengers along with their pets.
The remaining 35-40% bookings are from people from Delhi and Mumbai booking private jets back to their hometowns during the festive season added Kuriakose.
Kanika Tekriwal of Jet-SetGo Aviation said the upcoming festive season and easing of restrictions for both domestic and international travel is leading to a dramatic increase in bookings for charter flights.
Nisha Sharma, MD of Aloft Aviation said the season has always been busy from a travel point of view but this year there is a higher demand for private jets as compare to commercial airliners. She said many are taking to the mode of travel as it is safer.
There is also a marked shift in travel destinations such as Maldives, Dubai, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, Russia and some of the European countries due to uncertainties in travel restrictions. Earlier popular destinations were Jaipur, Kolkata, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Maldives, Dubai, Kathmandu, Koh Samui, Phuket, Singapore, Bangkok and Mauritius, according to Tekriwal.
