How to hire a private jet to escape coronavirus – and how much does it cost? With money, the sky’s the limit
With few commercial flights now available, air travel is still an option to escape Covid-19 and arrive at a safer destination – but will you be flying into quarantine lockdown at your destination?
The airline industry has been devastated by the coronavirus. With flight restrictions imposed by countries all around the world, on top of quarantine regulations deterring travellers worldwide, many planes have been grounded and flights have dwindled to barely a trickle of what was available the same time last year or even a few months ago.
All the while, the health situation of countries change from day to day. South Korea, the first country to have a serious outbreak after China, dealt with the situation with swift action, so that after two months of nationwide testing it is a relatively safe nation to live in – unlike many countries where the crisis is yet to decline.
But with restricted and limited flights, those who are seeking to return home or to take shelter in a safer city are faced with exorbitant prices. When the Hong Kong and UK government imposed quarantine measures and schools in the UK started closing, many students had no option but to rush home.
It was reported that the price of flights to Hong Kong quadrupled to HK$43,000 (US$5,548) for a one-way flight from London to Hong Kong.
“We flew a group of boarding school students back to Hong Kong last month,” says Jolie Howard, CEO of Tag Aviation, a private jet company in Hong Kong. “We flew 13 passengers back from London on a chartered flight.”
Howard says that there are typically two types of clientele for private jets. There are people who have their own planes managed by a company like hers, which organises the flight plan and staff when they wish to fly. Then there are charter flights where individuals pay for each flight.
