Faced with commercial flight restrictions, business jet travel grows in Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – While commercial travel had its safety challenged by the pandemic, business aviation attracts consumers and gains presence in the Brazilian skies.

As soon as it hit Brazil, the novel coronavirus pandemic led to a reduction of over 90% in flight availability. Since the economy reopened in mid-June 2020, this figure has been gradually recovering.

But the various restrictions on commercial aviation continue to drive away part of the public, particularly those with greater purchasing power. In this market gap, another segment has gained prominence: business aviation.

According to figures from startup Flapper, an on-demand aviation platform, 260,693 flight price quotations were made in the first 5 months of this year, an increase of 175% compared to the same period in 2020.

The convenience of not having to worry about check-in, skipping the boarding line, and enjoying privileged on-board service are amenities considered by those who choose this type of offer.

The decentralization of work in large urban centers due to the pandemic is also another important factor. The market has also received new entrants. Founded in 2019, but with operations started in August 2020, Alphajets has been running approximately 30 flights per month.

Although it does not disclose turnover figures, the company’s CEO Fernando Wendling says that since the second month of operation, demand has been strong. “With the pandemic, people who need to get around saw that in addition to luxury, the air cab became an essential transport, because it offers safety, agility and privacy,” he said.

Wendling estimates that 60% of executive trips are for business purposes and a significant part, 40%, for leisure. He points out that passengers’ most sought-after route is the resort district of Trancoso, in Bahia. The trip from São Paulo to Trancoso costs an average of R$65,000 (US$13,195), or R$7,200 if divided among each of the 9 passengers.

“The São Paulo resident’s air shuttle is no longer to Rio de Janeiro. I run about 30 flights a month: 30% of them are to Trancoso,” he says. Another coveted destination is the island of Fernando de Noronha, which belongs to the state of Pernambuco – for the trip from São Paulo to the archipelago, customers pay R$170,000. Traveling abroad is also an option. A flight to Buenos Aires in Argentina costs around R$130,000, while Cancun in Mexico costs R$420,000.

But there are companies working to “popularize” this type of trip. One of them is Flapper. Known as the “Uber of aviation,” part of the company’s service is to offer empty leg tickets through a mobile app and on the internet, when the jet makes the return trip to its base. Since these flights are typically empty, Flapper is able to connect customers to airlines with attractively priced tickets.

In the first five months of 2021, the startup, founded in 2016, saw growth in this type of demand reach 281% compared to the same period the previous year. If the average ticket for chartered flights from January to May was R$57,750, in shared flights this figure drops to R$1,450.

For Flapper’s CEO Paul Malicki, the shared flight approach is a ‘win-win’ for companies and consumers, since planes would typically return empty. “Companies share deals with us for planes that would return empty and we simply offer that flight on a per seat basis. Since it would return empty, the discounted price is 60% lower than what you would pay per passenger on a conventional flight,” he explains.

“Generally, it’s a great alternative to a commercial flight, with price flexibility. In the months of April and May, we broke records for shared flights performed”, he says. During the pandemic, this type of flight is also in demand for the transport of vaccines and repatriation.

With information from Veja.