India’s wealthy are still planning their travels—and they’re taking to private jets
Given the confusing environment in India today in regards to aviation, more and more people are considering these expensive but exclusive options. After a strict two-month lockdown, the government allowed domestic flights to operate on 25 May but initial days were plagued with hundreds of cancellations. Even now, states across India are still figuring out how exactly to handle incoming passengers from other parts of the country in terms of screenings and quarantines. And international travel is an even bigger question mark, especially since the US, UAE and France have objected to Air India’s ongoing Vande Bharat flights in and out of their countries, while other airlines are still banned from India operations until at least 15 July. While private jets and charters still have to abide by the same rules as normal flights in terms of mandatory screenings and quarantines, the interest in and usage of them are largely driven by first-time flyers who are prioritising both safety and convenience.
“Private jets are a more dependable option,” elaborates Wadhwa. The obvious advantages: you can arrive at the airport about 30 minutes prior to the flight (versus the two hours required by commercial airlines); you avoid large crowds and long queues at the airport and in the aircraft; you travel only with passengers known to you; you are in charge of your schedule and itinerary, so you can fly non-stop from any destination in India to another at your own time. Prior to lockdown, according to Tekriwal, the majority of requests came in from people who had children studying abroad (especially London, Singapore and Australia) or elsewhere in India. “Eight-five percent of those flights carried just one to three passengers,” she says. Adults who were stranded while travelling for work, or those who were ill and away from their families also formed the early demand. Nowadays, however, Wadhwa explains, the profile of customers has changed. Today, the typical Book My Charters customer is above the age of 50 and looking to travel to a vacation home within India, to visit family, or urgently for business-related daytrip. Some wish to travel with pets. Goa is the number one destination of choice (no surprise there), and Dubai is likely to be the first international city to see traffic from India.
Increasingly, more and more Indians are planning leisure trips to ‘exotic’ international destinations, ready to take off as soon as the law allows. On the condition of anonymity, Conde Nast Traveller spoke to three individuals who have flown privately within India in the past three months, and found that ‘peace of mind’ was the key driving factor. “It isn’t that flying commercially is unsafe; it’s just that flying private reduces the amount of stress and worry involved,” said one. Of course, high-end travel agents are witnessing the shift in demand first-hand. Ashish Chadha, founder & group managing partner of Gurugram-based Leisure Ways, has been busy creating customised trips for his private-jet clients. “Each trip is hand-crafted like a fine suit,” he says. “The surge in enquiries is almost entirely driven by wealthy fliers drawn to flying private because of health concerns, avoiding the crowds and queues involved in flying commercial. There are two predominant reasons—to see family or to escape from wherever they have knuckled down through the pandemic. The leisure queries are coming from nuclear families and small family groups in Delhi and Mumbai, looking to get away for up to a week to remote areas where the impact of the coronavirus has been low. So Maldives, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Seychelles and Kenya are high on the list, with Turkey soon making the cut. One particular client is very keen on a charter to Reykjavik in August. With charter companies wanting to make up for the slack, they are offering sops to make the proposition attractive and within the ballpark First Class commercial ticket price range. The major constraint is the absence of a recognised authority that can issue a Covid-free certificate which will be accepted by immigration authorities overseas.”
Sure enough, secluded resorts are seeing tentative bookings from Indians who are eager to fly private and stay somewhere beautiful and comfortable, with an opportunity to enjoy nature and the outdoors. Often, they’re considering having family members from across India reunite at the destination, or to travel as a small group of family and #friendslikefamily. A recent Conde Nast Traveller India survey asked audiences where they most wished to travel to when restrictions were lifted—and a whopping 38 percent voted for the Maldives. Little wonder then, that resorts scattered across these beautiful islands in the Indian Ocean are seeing demands pour in from India (and Russia, of course). “The survey findings co-relate with what we are seeing in terms of demand from India, as travel to Europe and the US seems to be out of bounds,” says Sonu Shivdasani, CEO and joint creative director of Soneva, which has two luxe resorts in the Maldives. “As of writing, we have 75 leads from India. We specifically have eight enquiries for people who would like to travel on a private jet. Flying to our resorts on a private jet is convenient as it halves the overall travel time… The time from take-off in Mumbai to being in your villa at Soneva Jani is less than three hours! There is an international private jet airport on Maafaru Island, built by the ruler of Abu Dhabi as a gift to the Maldives. It accepts his personal Boeing 737 and it has an elaborate airport terminal. The airport is empty as there are very few arrivals, so there is no taxiing time or waiting time to land. You’ll be at Soneva Jani in just seven minutes. We are in discussions with a private jet operator and will be scheduling four return flights between Mumbai to Malé from the end of July through August.’’ As of today, the Maldives is accepting international tourists starting 15 July.
Another destination seeing interest from private-jet travellers from India is Africa, especially in countries with a well-developed wildlife circuit. Iconic safari camps in Kenya, South Africa, Botswana, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, for instance, have always been popular with well-heeled Indian clients—and their focus on privacy makes them particularly suitable for travel in these times when social distancing is crucial. “The desire to travel to areas which reconnect guests to natural surroundings whilst simultaneously limiting the chance of coming into contact with Covid-19 along the way is spurring the demand for private-jet safaris,” says Hilton Walker of Great Plains Conservation. “We are about to launch our first 14-day safari from New York to Kenya, whilst simultaneously working on demand for London to Maun [in Botswana], and India to Kenya safaris too! The beauty of these trips is that they allow for small intimate groups to experience the best that African wildlife destinations have to offer, whilst enjoying seamless, point-to-point service from the moment they leave their home countries to the time they return… We have made adjustments and refinements, and will continue to do so going forward—but, ironically, it hasn't really needed too much tweaking from what we normally provide because of the abundance of space, the politeness of our staff, and the open-air facilities. Still, we are following procedures taken at the finest hotels of the world, from our fellow colleagues at Relais & Chateaux and National Geographic Unique Lodges, and what Johns Hopkins Medicine and other high-end health facilities across the world recommend. So what you can expect from us is no compromise on our hospitality, and no compromise on your safety. It's not that difficult; we’ve been doing it forever!”
Source: https://www.cntraveller.in
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