{"id":72139,"date":"2018-05-09T11:12:54","date_gmt":"2018-05-09T09:12:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/?p=72139"},"modified":"2025-03-24T09:26:38","modified_gmt":"2025-03-24T08:26:38","slug":"business-aviation-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/business-aviation-2","title":{"rendered":"Business aviation: saving time, saving money"},"content":{"rendered":"

In France, it is often fashionable to ignore business aviation. Then, at the end of 2017, the sector was suddenly in the news when the media went wild over the private plane used by the Prime Minister<\/strong>\u00c9douard Philippe, on his return flight from New Caledonia on 6 December 2017. During a stopover in Tokyo<\/strong><\/a>the Prime Minister has booked a Airbus A340<\/strong> from the private company Aero Vision back to Paris. Cost of the charter : 350 000 \u20ac<\/strong> for a 100-seat First Class aircraft that brought around sixty people back to Paris. \"We knew that there was no commercial flight at the time we would be returning. And we knew we had to get back for something imperative<\/em> [...]\", the Prime Minister pleaded in the face of the controversy. \"It's frighteningly expensive and I'm perfectly aware of that; I'm so aware of it that I try to keep costs down.<\/em>\".<\/p>\n

If we decode the Prime Minister's explanations, we find in fact all the elements pleading both for and against business aviation. Flexibility and availability<\/strong> are, of course, the main assets of private jets. They are even the main selling point of business aviation. The European Commission recognised this in a 2008 report examining the conditions for environmentally-friendly growth: \"Business aviation offers a flexible means of transport, tailor-made<\/strong> for individuals, businesses and local communities, and increases the mobility of populations, the productivity of business communities and the cohesion of regions<\/em>\".<\/p>\n

Door-to-door service<\/h2>\n

According to theEuropean Business Aviation Association<\/strong> (EBAA), the average saving per journey made thanks to private aviation is two hours<\/strong>. But it is above all on multiple routes that private jets really come into their own: according to a study carried out in 2016 by the EBAA, 16,000 business jet rotations in Europe included at least three stopovers<\/strong>. For companies and individual travellers, this meant a saving of 75,000 overnight stays, an average of 15 million euros<\/strong>\u00a0!<\/p>\n

These savings in time and money can be explained in particular by the presence of almost 4,000 airfields<\/strong> in Western Europe, compared with 350 airports<\/strong> commercials. That's a tenfold increase! Requiring only minimal infrastructure - a short runway, sometimes grass for some platforms; a reception area for passengers; a checkpoint and possibly a paraffin refuelling point - business aerodromes play the proximity card to attract their customers. Most of them can be reached in an average of 15 minutes from the cities, hence the idea of a \"business airport\". door-to-door air service<\/strong>almost tailor-made. What's more, customs and security formalities are quicker, as they are set up for the charter of one or two aircraft, and these airports never suffer from air traffic congestion. The same reduced time on arrival... You can quickly calculate the time saved, especially on routes with multiple stopovers.<\/p>\n

Let's take a route for example Rouen-Mannheim-Cracow<\/strong> By chartering a plane for the day, the cumulative time for the three flights in a Beechcraft King Air B100 - a 13-seater propeller plane with a flying speed of 490 km\/h - would be less than six hours to cover a distance of 2,734 km. This ensures a same-day return. If, on the other hand, all these journeys had to be made by airliner, or possibly by train, there would be numerous connections, not to mention the waiting time at airports or stations. The Rouen-Mannheim route alone would take half a day, as passengers would either have to take the train to Paris CDG airport to catch a direct flight to Mannheim, or go via Lyon, with five to six hours in between!<\/p>\n

Going beyond the \"bling bling\" image<\/h2>\n

However, there is a lot of controversy surrounding business aviation, based on two grievances: service at the high price<\/strong> and, above all, a very \"bling bling<\/strong>. The latter brings to mind the ultra-luxury Falcon produced by Dassault, with a bed and Porsche waiting for the passenger on the tarmac. Of course, this does exist - companies such as XOjet and Twin Jet are just two examples - but it is not the only way of thinking about private air travel. The problem may lie in the fact that the industry does not communicate sufficiently about the enormous range of solutions that business aviation actually offers.<\/p>\n

\"Falcon<\/a>
Lounges with luxurious interiors, seats that can be converted into beds: Dassault Aviation has unveiled its new Falcon 6X, an aircraft capable of flying non-stop from Paris to Beijing at Mach 0.85. \u00a9 Dassault Aviation<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Take the example of Edouard Philippe's trip from Tokyo to Paris, which cost 350,000 euros. If we calculate the cost per person, we find that, for a delegation of 65 participants, the flight coupon with its business service came to 5,385 euros. This compares with the fares offered at the end of January on the Air France website for a one-way Tokyo-Paris flight scheduled for 12 February 2018. The price of a seat in business class ranged from \u20ac5,466 to \u20ac5,987. Conclusion: the fare for the 'scandal of the Republic' was cheaper per person than on an airliner!<\/p>\n

While many people in France think that business aviation is a \"luxury\", it's not. luxury<\/strong> reserved for the happy few, elsewhere in the world, on the other hand, people are completely convinced of the usefulness of such a means of transport. Just go to the EBACE exhibition<\/strong> (European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition) in Geneva to gauge the health of the sector. At the 2017 event, the organisers made no secret of their satisfaction. The event, supported by the NBAA<\/strong> (National Business Aviation Association) and theEBAA<\/strong> (European Business Aviation Association), attracted over 400 exhibitors, 13,000 visitors and showcased 56 aircraft models.<\/p>\n