Fly away.....

You want to fly away somewhere into the clouds, check-in into a luxurious hotel and just relax, soak up the sun, do some sight-seeing, enjoy local food. In these corona times, these pleasures of life which we had taken for granted seem so unreal. It might take us a long, long time before we will be able to pack our bags to go anywhere.

But not for the super rich. They are not taking chances flying commercial within India and looking at options to countries where travel is being permitted from India and all this by chartering their own plane.

Yes, the charter flight business has taken off truly. This pandemic has been a blessing in disguise for them as during the lockdown, parents hired these flights to get their children back home from abroad, some old people flew for treatment abroad and many to close deals which simply could not be postponed. And now with lockdown partially lifted, the super-rich are travelling on holidays too!

Currently, in India we have 7 charter flight service providers – JetSetGo, Book My Charters, Prince Air, Blade India, Excel Aviation Services, Foresee Aviation and Air Charter Services and all of them are doing phenomenal business.

Its not cheap to charter. Prices start at Rs.70,000/hour seating 8 passengers and rises to Rs.6 lakh/hour for a 16-seater jet. Larger jets cost Rs.12-15/lakh per hour. To this, airport and other landing charges are added.

The bill starts the moment the engine is started and ends when the engine stops. A Delhi-Mumbai-Delhi return flight on the Falcon 2000  would be calculated at a duration of five to six hours, and could cost Rs12-15 lakh. A Delhi-Bengaluru-Delhi return flight would be in between Rs12-18 lakh. A return flight from Mumbai to Malé on a Falcon 2000, would cost about Rs33 lakh all-inclusive, with two-night halt in Malé.

You need to show just 20 minutes prior to take-off, you’ll avoid the crowds and they have private lounges with free Wifi and refreshments. Packing your bags?