Aviation

The private aviation industry is a global business with a billion dollar revenue. It is a rapidly growing industry and that has accelerated since the pandemic. In 2019, North America boasted a business aviation fleet size of 25,237, bigger than all other regions’ fleet sizes. Europe owned the second largest, with 4,159. Australia and Oceania, on the other hand, had 778, the lowest among all the regions.

Private aviation companies offer a range of services such as leasing, chartering and management of private jets. They also provide services for the general public such as aircraft management and maintenance.  However, they are always looking for ways to make their business more efficient.

UK-based start-up, AeroBid, is launching an exciting new add-on to its platform “The Empty Leg Marketplace”. The team behind the AeroBid platform are confident that this new digital marketplace – designed specifically for empty leg flights – will tackle the inefficiencies in the growing empty-leg market once and for all.

The private aviation industry has sought long and hard to find a practical solution to fill empty legs. Estimates suggest that between 30-50% of all private jet flights fly empty.

With the launch of AeroBid in April 2022, the team behind the thriving platform has developed what they believe is the answer: “The Empty Leg Marketplace”, which they say has real potential to provide a viable solution to the challenge.

The challenge with unlocking the empty legs market is that empty-leg flights have pre-defined departures and destinations, are subject to last-minute changes in schedule, become available on short notice and go very fast. Existing methods to fill these empty legs often depend on static directories, alongside collating quotes via phone call and operator websites. Often, a time-consuming process that cannot keep pace with the changing, transient nature of empty-leg flight schedules.

Launched in April 2022, the AeroBid platform is an exclusive live marketplace for the private aviation industry. Designed to modernise and digitise the private charter booking process, the platform uses data and instant alerts to bring a fast, transparent, and convenient way for brokers to request charters for their clients, and for operators to receive and bid on live flight requests, in real-time. To keep up with customer demands and the growing need to find a sustainable and effective solution to fill empty legs once and for all, AeroBid’s Empty Leg Marketplace was born.

The platform’s key differentiator from the static marketplaces and directories currently on offer – is that its system is intelligent, live and evolving. It makes use of all the key features that make the AeroBid platform revolutionary, from its SMART flight alerts, focused user interface & experience f to its real-time marketplace functionality. In a few simple steps, Operators can instantly post their empty legs within the Empty Leg Marketplace and alert Brokers to the flight. “Our users are crying out for this added functionality”, says AeroBid CEO & Founder, Zaher Deir. “Static directories do not establish an easy and effective way for Brokers and Operators to buy and sell empty legs. A live marketplace makes this objective possible.”

The Empty Leg Marketplace provides Operators with complete control over how they choose to market their empty legs. From Airport-to-Airport routes, that are either fixed or flexible, right down to pricing that is either negotiable or non-negotiable. With AeroBid’s Empty leg Marketplace, Brokers can finally put offers forward to Operators and suggest pickups along the route all within the Platform. Furthermore, in early 2023, the Empty Leg Marketplace will be Integrating with the core AeroBid marketplace providing an intelligent matching system that will detect if there is a charter request already live within the AeroBid marketplace that can be matched with the empty leg flight and vice-versa. Providing Operators and Brokers with more opportunities to capitalise on their empty legs, and Brokers ample possibilities to secure their client’s charter requests at a cost-effective price.

Aiming to tackle the empty leg issue head-on and helping to improve the sustainability of private air travel, the AeroBid Empty Leg Market Place enables operators tangible opportunities to generate revenue on their otherwise empty, return or repositioning one-way trips, and provides brokers, and ultimately the end-user, more possibilities to secure private flights than ever before.

Founder and CEO Zaher Deir says, “Harnessing the power of empty legs is the next logical step for the private aviation industry to experience real growth towards a viable alternative for all.”

“After three decades in the aircraft and aviation industry, I understand altogether the issues impacting the private aviation sector. The lack of opportunity to monetize empty-leg flights and make better, more effective use of them – both from an Operational and a Brokerage perspective – is what’s holding the industry back.”

To build a sustainable future, the right digital platform is critical. By opening up the AeroBid marketplace to the empty sector, Operators and Brokers can work together to spark more efficient flight planning. Taking advantage of otherwise missed opportunities and making far better use of market demand.

Private aviation is a form of civil aviation for exclusive use by private individuals.  The term “private” refers to the aircraft being restricted to carrying only its owner and those who are invited by the owner. Private aircraft may be used for business purposes, but may also be used for personal and recreational travel, with the latter often being restricted to certain hours of day and time periods of year. Over recent years private aviation has been a growing sector, but here we have a look at the future of that part of the aviation industry.  Can that growth continue to be sustained?

Over the last three years, private aviation has soared. In 2021, 3.3 million private flights took off around the world, the most the industry has experienced to date and 7% higher than the industry’s previous boom in 2019. Even at the height of the pandemic, private aviation saw sustained demand while the rest of the travel and tourism sector plummeted.

Yet is the industry set to become a victim of its own success? This surge in interest is creating pressure that the industry is, arguably, not ready for. If steps aren’t taken to alleviate that pressure soon, the continued flood in demand could start to cause cracks that will be difficult to recover from, costing the industry the growth it has worked for.

Pressure point: Manufacturing
A shortage of raw metals, parts and electronic components is causing manufacturing delays across the board, with every technology-related sector experiencing supply chain issues. In private aviation, this disruption is felt two-fold, with reduced supply hitting at a time of increased demand. Economic uncertainty is adding to the problem, with many suppliers unwilling to hold too much stock at once in case of a recession – creating further delays and bottlenecks along the supply chain. With private owners and aircraft lessors alike competing for new aircraft stock, aircraft operators will soon struggle to add new aircraft to their roster to fulfil their influx of flight requests.

Pressure point: Demand for used aircraft ownership
The used aircraft market is booming – but there just aren’t enough to go around. As is the case in any sector, scarcity creates price increases, and low availability has caused used-aircraft prices to rise 25%-30% in recent months. This fierce competition for aircraft is driven in part by those private charter operators looking to add more aircraft to their fleet (and unable to secure new models thanks to those manufacturing issues) and in part by an uptick in interest in private ownership post-Covid. Interestingly, young affluent people are one of the biggest growth markets for aircraft ownership, with under 45s accounting for 27% of sales according to pre-owned aircraft sales specialist Jetcraft.

Pressure point: Maintenance
The more journeys an aircraft makes, the more routine maintenance it needs – and with more aircraft in the air than ever before, maintenance facilities are under pressure to work through a higher volume of repairs and renovations than anticipated, at a faster pace. Again, both the speed of growth and the threat of recession are preventing maintenance facilities from keeping up with demand. A steep investment in new equipment, locations and personnel are needed to make sure maintenance is readily available in spite of the surge, yet concerns that an economic downturn could see a sudden decline are potentially preventing active investment, in turn stalling growth by keeping more aircraft on the ground.

Pressure point: Admin
Both brokers and operators are feeling the strain of increased interest in private charter bookings. For brokers, it’s more customers to secure bookings for in a highly competitive market. For operators, it’s an overwhelming number of requests to sort through, price, quote for, and secure – not to mention the added layer of managing the time and location of those bookings as efficiently as possible. If brokers and operators can become as efficient as possible when booking clients on to private charters, it could relieve some of the pressures felt elsewhere in the sector.

Zaher Deir, founder of AeroBid, believes that this efficiency is the first step to easing the industry’s pressure points and enabling more sustainable – and less risky – growth. He comments: “As an industry, we need to change how we operate, following the example of other sectors to use data and real-time communications to make our charter bidding processes easier and more effective. Just look at the problem with empty legs for instance: every empty leg is an opportunity to transport paying customers, but they are being wasted. If the industry can improve its efficiency, it will be able to sustain its rapid growth, which was why AeroBid was founded in the first place.”

What exactly the future holds for private aviation is impossible to tell, but what is clear is that consumers have developed a taste for private aviation that, if managed effectively over the next year, could have a transformative effect on aviation.

Private aviation is never more popular. It is a way for people to travel in style and privacy.   It can be used for any occasion, from business travel to family vacations.  Private aviation gives you the opportunity to take off at your convenience, without having to worry about delays or the crowds at the airport. It also offers a sense of luxury and exclusivity that public air travel can’t. Private jets are often equipped with amenities such as power outlets, Wi-Fi, and entertainment systems that make them feel like first class flights on a commercial airline.

Over the past few years, the use of data and new technology has transformed commercial aviation. Pre-flight and post-flight operations – including everything from ticket purchase and seat selection to luggage drop-off and boarding – can all be done at a touch of a button. Can the same be said for private aviation? Not quite. Lengthy negotiations, aircraft approvals, hidden costs, and quotation lead times often mean that private charter operators and brokers have a lot of work to do behind the scenes before any private jet booking is secured – and lack of real-time access to data is holding their sector back.

Innovative data platforms have the potential to bring about a big digital leap forward for the private air charter industry. By using data to improve the way that charters are secured, the industry can keep up with ever-increasing demand, increase efficiency, and meet sustainability targets. But a reluctance to embrace new ways of doing things is what’s holding the private aviation industry back.

Private air charter operators and brokers need to work together to embrace data-driven initiatives if the sector is going to experience the transformation it needs to flourish in a digital future. With demand for private jet travel having passed pre-pandemic levels and showing no signs of slowing down, now is the time for the private aviation industry to tune in to technological advancements.

Here, AeroBid looks at three ways data and new technology can transform private aviation – from empty legs to increased affordability. 

Real-time data has the potential to bring about the end of empty legs (almost)

With so much data being generated at digital touch points, and increased demand for private jet travel, there should be no shortage of data available to help operators fill their ‘empty leg’ flights. Yet up to 50% of repositioning flights are still flying without passengers – impacting sustainability, flight availability, and operator profits. While several apps and platforms have attempted to address this in recent years, none have really succeeded in fixing the problem – but that could be very different in the near future.

Unlike static bidding platforms, AeroBid believes it has finally found the solution. Using real-time data as its key differentiator, coupled with smart technology and instant alert features, brokers put out live requests for their client’s charter, featuring dates, location, and any aircraft specifications. At the same time, operators view incoming requests in real-time and bid for the charter accordingly.

AeroBid’s sole function is not only to help operators fill empty legs, or brokers access them for their clients. It works as a real-time air charter bidding platform and uses data to fundamentally change the way that brokers and operators work with each other to secure charters.

Yet it’s the notifications feature that has the most potential to tackle the empty leg issue. Operators can receive instant notifications on key air charter data – like region, date, or airport – allowing them to not only be notified of the flights that best fit their area of operation or gaps in their flight schedule but could also specifically flag flights that correspond with repositioning flights. These could be an exact airport match, a request within that region, or even a location that’s conveniently placed along the repositioning flight path.

Will data succeed in completely eradicating empty legs from private air travel? It’s unlikely, but if the air charter industry can keep pace with new platforms in existence, data has the potential to reduce the number of empty repositioning flights, tighten up efficiency and sustainability, and help the industry to maximise its profits.

It’s helping the industry to take a step closer to sustainability

An increasing number of private aircraft operators are pledging to become carbon neutral. While carbon offsetting is still a big part of this process for air travel, the key to real sustainability is efficiency – whether that’s by reducing unnecessary flights (like the empty legs mentioned above) or creating more efficient ways to power aircraft. An increasing number of commercial airlines are investing in data-driven solutions designed to provide insight into their fleet’s efficiency, including Malaysia Airlines and Emirates, who have both adopted GE Digital’s Fuel Insight and FlightPulse Pre-flight data solutions. These data platforms provide insight into a multitude of factors that are impacting aircraft efficiency, including fuel consumption. With information like this available to them, airlines have the potential to reduce fuel consumption – which can also hasten their full adoption of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).

So, what does this mean for private aircraft operators? While some larger operators are investing in their own data-powered analytics platforms, not every operator will adopt these data-intensive platforms – but the more data generated in both private and commercial aviation alike, the more opportunities both will see for technological advancements that promote sustainability.

It’s creating more affordable private travel

In theory, greater efficiency equals greater affordability. Yet there is another aspect to data-driven affordability in the private aviation sector. With consumer demand for private air travel soaring, private charter operators have an opportunity to closely examine customer behaviour, adapt their operations to suit changing passenger habits, and offer more accessible, affordable options. For instance, while flight sharing hasn’t been a popular option in the past – with passengers overwhelmingly opting to travel privately for the enhanced privacy it brings – a new breed of private aviation customer is driving demand for the service. With the right data-driven insight into customer behaviour and preferences, private charter operators could explore alternatives to their traditional operating models.

With the wider industry going through a data and analytics transformation, a shift in mindset is what the private aviation industry requires. If this happens, we are bound to expect plenty more data and technological advancements to come.