Demand for private charter flights out of the Middle East has surged since the beginning of the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, with those who can afford it paying astronomical prices to leave the region.
The war, which began on February 28, has triggered the biggest disruption to air travel across the Gulf region since the Covid-19 pandemic, with commercial airline operations severely disrupted by airspace closures due to ongoing missile strikes and drone attacks.
“Demand for private charter has increased materially in recent days as commercial airline schedules across parts of the region have become limited or unreliable,” John Matthews, chairman and founder of private jet company AirX, told CNN on Tuesday.
Tens of thousands of travelers have been stranded, and although some airlines are now reopening a limited number of routes, those with extremely deep pockets have found a way to circumvent the chaos: chartering a private jet.
“We are seeing requests from ultra-high-net-worth families, multinational corporations relocating senior executives and larger groups such as sports teams and touring productions that still need to move together,” he added.
Bernardus Vorster, CEO of private charter firm SHY Aviation, told CNN that there are normally around 10 to 15 private jet flights from the Omani capital, Muscat, Dubai and the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on a normal day, but this spiked to 98 on Wednesday last week.
Increased demand, the limited number of aircraft available and higher insurance costs have all contributed to higher than normal prices, Vorster said, as has the fact that planes return to the region empty in the vast majority of cases, which means that clients pay for both legs of the journey.
One flight saw a group of 12 people and their dog fly from Muscat to Istanbul, Turkey, a five-hour journey, for $145,000, he added.
The same flight would have cost around $60,000 before the conflict, said Vorster, equivalent to a 142% increase.
Muscat and Riyadh were the preferred departure airports at the start of the conflict as the airspace and flight corridors were more predictable, although Dubai has since become more popular as the emirate is home to many people who are trying to leave the region, Vorster explained.
“Istanbul has been the most popular destination because of its proximity to the region,” said Vorster, with other destinations including Athens and Mumbai.
However, private charters will not be able to significantly reduce travel disruption in the Middle East, both because of the unaffordable costs and due to a lack of capacity.
“Private charter cannot replace the scale of commercial airline networks, but it can provide controlled mobility for organisations and groups that need to move quickly when scheduled services become disrupted,” said Matthews, who added that AirX had secured a charter worth around 1 million euros ($1.16 million) for a plane with 100 lie-flat seats last week.
Vorster also acknowledged that the impact of private charters on the wider crisis would be limited due to low passenger numbers.
“The average private jet takes 12 people, and while the available aircraft in the region remains around 40-50 jets, the numbers (of people traveling) are relatively low,” said Vorster, who added that around 120 people have left the Middle East on flights arranged by the company in the past week.
There are currently tens of thousands of people trying to leave the region, and various governments from around the world are working to provide repatriation flights after commercial airline operations were severely disrupted by the conflict.
On Monday, the US State Department said it had facilitated more than two dozen charter flights and evacuated thousands of Americans from the region, with a senior official adding that “commercial flight availability across the region continues to improve.”
