Sharp decline in charter demand, reports UK broker

UK-based executive aircraft charter broker Air Partner has reported a dip in business during the first five weeks of the second quarter of its current financial year. The December 10 statement from the publicly traded group suggests that charter market conditions have been declining significantly as last year drew to a close, in the wake of what it described as “further deterioration in the global economic climate.”

In early October, Air Partner reported flat first-quarter revenues and had stated that forward bookings at the time were “significantly down.” The latest statement confirms that business during the first part of the second quarter proved to be below recently set internal targets. Air Partner has said that profitability for the second quarter is set to decline by 15 percent and forward bookings are about 50 percent down for this period. The statement also said that declining demand has resulted in charter operators implementing “aggressive pricing.”

Nonetheless, London Executive Aviation has announced the addition of a Dassault Falcon 900EX to its UK-based charter fleet. The long-range trijet is being managed by the operator on behalf of an owner who is awaiting delivery of a new Falcon 7X and it will be available for charter.