China’s private jet is booming as the economy reaches pre-pandemic levels

Companies and wealthy people in China have significantly increased their use of private jets this year, with total flights nearly doubling from previous pandemic levels as the country’s economic recovery calls for a change in business travel.

According to data from the data company WingX Advance GmbH, the use of aircraft contracted privately or carried exclusively by the owners has increased by 87 percent this year compared to the same period two years earlier.

The rise comes with China economic recovery coronavirus pandemic. Although the global pandemic began in 2019 in China, the ruling Communist Party managed to control it fairly quickly by sealing the country’s borders and imposing harsh blockades and massive tests.

China’s growth is above that of other major economies, surpassing pre-pandemic rates at the end of last year and easing restrictions on domestic travel.

WingX CEO Richard Koe said the frequency of commercial flights worldwide has been reduced by 29% this year compared to last year, with private aircraft more than 18 per cent busy but still down in 2019.

Private aircraft operators say the increase in demand in China also reflects the rest of the limits on commercial aircraft, as well as concerns about managers sharing planes with a large number of other passengers.

“Private jets can fly to places where commercial aircraft are completely closed,” said Jenny Lau, president of the aircraft operator at Sino Jet.

Li Bokai, president of Business Aviation Asia, estimates that a passenger on a commercial flight can have more than 1,000 people in contact with more than 10 on a regular business flight.

Operators said the most popular destinations were Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. A flight from Shanghai to Shenzhen costs about $ 45,000 for a maximum of 15 people on a Gulfstream G550, according to the Hong Kong-based jet charter agency L’VOYAGE.

The company said it has seen charter aircraft, such as mask manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies, at the hands of businesses that have benefited from the pandemic.

WingX data show that compared to higher domestic appetite, private international aircraft from China have almost dried up. The Chinese government has imposed stricter restrictions on arriving abroad after a flurry of earlier domestic flights.

“It is very difficult for private planes carrying passengers coming from international routes to obtain permits for such flights,” Lauk said.

According to WingX data, private flights to China and international aircraft have dropped 91 percent this year compared to the same period two years earlier.

Thomas Flohr, president of the private jet company VistaJet, said that domestic flights between the US and China accounted for half of all cross-country flights by 2020.

Lau said their fleet took many foreign students and seniors with medical needs to China, as well as a business delegation of 60 people from Wenzhou stopped in Florence last April.

Operators see opportunities for post-pandemic expansion, as business aircraft still have little entry into China.

“It simply came to our notice then [companies] they have realized the convenience of rigid businesses, they will continue to use them even after the epidemic, ”Li added.