Coronavirus: private jet companies see surge of inquiries – The National

Coronavirus: private jet companies see surge of inquiries – The National

Private jet inquiries have surged in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, operators say.. "In the initial stages we were getting inquiries," said Jobby George, general manager for the Middle East at Air Partner.. The company organised two charter flights to fly 325 British citizens from Wuhan.. "The inquiries were mainly from Chinese nationals who were already out of China for Chinese new year.. "When airlines began restricting travel to China they started panicking about how they would get back there.. Mr George said the company received six inquiries from Chinese families on holiday in the UAE in late January.. Logan Ravishankar, chief executive of Singapore-based charter operator MyJet Asia, told The National the company received many inquiries from Chinese families.. First of all, the planes could not enter certain places in China," he said.. Planes that could enter China would not be allowed to return to countries that banned aircraft coming from China.. "The largest operators were very scared to lease their aircraft and most of the crew didn't want to fly.". A spokesman for Abu Dhabi Airports said thermal scans were carried out on passengers arriving from Beijing aboard the aircraft, prior to disembarking..