Combating coronavirus: What you need to know about hiring a private jet to UAE

Combating coronavirus: What you need to know about hiring a private jet to UAE

This time their clients are not just the well-heeled businessmen or high-net-worth individuals who prefer luxury flying.





As commercial airlines continue to scale down operations amid the global spread of Covid-19, private jets are taking to the skies offering an alternative means of air transport.

But this time their clients are not just the well-heeled businessmen or high-net-worth individuals who prefer luxury flying. Private jet companies in the UAE say they are dealing with a new breed of clients - expats who are stuck abroad and desperate to fly back to the UAE or those wanting to return to their home countries.

"There is a big surge in demand and we are dealing with a new customer base. The spike in demand is from those who are looking to repatriate to their home countries or wanting to travel to destinations where commercial airlines are not flying," Elie Hanna, regional director of Air Charter, a private jet brokerage company based in Dubai, told Khaleej Times.

In the last three weeks, since the UAE allowed the return of residents, Hanna claims his company operated 12 flights from Saudi Arabia to the UAE and several flights from various Indian cities to the emirates.

Air pooling

Hanna