Private jets soar past global pandemic, oil price woes

GENEVA: Airlines may find themselves swept up in unprecedented turbulence — with air travel shunned over climate concerns, plagued by pandemic shutdowns and soaring oil prices — but for private jet operators, business is booming.
The appeal of private jets has taken off since the start of the pandemic, amid fear of catching Covid-19 and as widespread cancellations and stringent measures have turned flying commercial into a logistics headache.
“The impact of Covid really forced people to look elsewhere for their travel needs,” said Philippe Scalabrini, who heads the southern European division of the international private aviation company VistaJet.
“Anyone who can afford it wants an entire plane at their disposal,” he told AFP, adding that “private aviation, as whole, has had an incredible surge of demand over the past two years.”