That can be a very complex and personal decision. There are so many factors that can influence the decision process, but these can be broken down into 3 main areas:

Aircraft Usage
Organizational Structure
Financial Status

Owning your own luxury private jet may not be a really realistic proposition if you are not intending to use it on a regular basis or if you lack required infrastructure. The alternative is a private jet charter with an ACMI/Wet Lease.

Most lease agreements of less than 2 years or on a seasonal basis are usually conducted under an ACMI/Wet lease agreement. As ACMI (Aircraft, Complete Crew, Maintenance, Insurance) is mainly used for start-up airlines that it is better to operate under this type of lease agreement initially or for seasonal programs.

Generally speaking, there are 4 types of Aircraft Charter - Air Taxi, Ad Hoc, Frequent Membership and Full or Public Charter. If you only plan to use the jet on an odd flight or a few hours a month then an ad hoc charter or an Air Taxi is the best route for you, especially if you are travelling between non-serviced airports.

Otherwise, if you are planning for higher usage then you should consider a Frequent Membership Charter program, of which there are several available.

If you plan on using your jet on a regular basis like a tour operator or a start-up airline, without an AOC (aeronautical operational control), then you need to conduct your flights under a public charter. To do this you will need the infrastructure to do so in the form of experienced personnel, maintenance facilities, etc. if you cannot provide these resources than you will need to consider a full charter program or ACMI lease.

Depending on your organizational structure you could hire a third party airline or aircraft operator that would perform the flights under their AOC and be responsible for all aspects of the flight. Tour operators and small start-up airlines may use this option rather than going through the certification process prior to start-up.

Chartering through an executive jet service can generally be more expensive than other options but the decision to charter is more due to convenience, limited usage, regulations, organizational structure, etc.

The cost of chartering a jet can be expensive but it offers many benefits over traditional airlines or other leasing options. Those options are privacy, point-to-point travel, convenience, comfort and you know that your luggage will be there when you get to your destination.

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Tags: executive jet service, luxury jet charter, private jet charter

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 20th, 2008 at 11:12 pm and is filed under Business, Finance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.