Charter Flight Activity – Charter Report 2020

2019 has seen a general increase in both commercial (charter) and non-commercial business jet activity as compared to the same period in 2018. however, despite the increase in business jet flight activity, the percentage of flights dedicated for charter operations has remained relatively similar. The holiday month of December is the busiest in terms of charter activity – the only month where the percentage of charter flights crosses 60%.

45% of the total charter flights in the region is completed by long-range jets. This is followed by large and medium sized jets, which account for 31 % and 14% of the charter flight activity, respectively. Very-light sized aircraft account for 6% of the Asia-Pacific charter flight activity.

Despite the fact that large and long-range sized aircraft account for 50% of the charter fleet and nearly 75% of the charter activity in the Asia-Pacific region, the majority of the charter flights are still dedicated for short haul missions and have a flight duration of less than three hours. 61% of the charter flights are below two hours and 17% are between two to three hours. Only 9% of the charter flights in 2019 had a duration of more than five hours.

Among the top 10 business jet models with the most charter activity in 2019, the majority (five) belong to the long-range size segment. Large sized aircraft account for four of the models while the Gulfstream G150 is the only light sized aircraft among the top 10 charter models based on flight activity.

Of the top 10 models based on charter flight activity, Bombardier Global Express/6000 is the most demanded business jet in the Asia-Pacific region. The model group accounts for 25% of the total charter flight activity completed by the top 10 models. Gulfstream GV/550 comes in second, in terms of flight activity, closely followed by the Bombardier Challenger 600 series.

In terms of average flight hours per flight, Gulfstream G650/ER and Bombardier Global Express/6000 flights have the longest duration – approximately three hours each. The Gulfstream GV/550 comes in next – with an average flight duration of 2.7 hours. Interestingly, none of the top charter models have a flight duration of more than three hours, an indication that long haul charter flights are relatively uncommon in the Asia-Pacific region.

36% of the total charter flight activity in 2019 was completed by Bombardier manufactured business jets. Gulfstream comes in second with 27%, followed by Dassault and Embraer – with 15% and 8%, respectively. Cessna, Learjet and Hawker account for 6%, 4% and 3%, respectively.