Online air charter marketplace JetASAP has found that operator billable flight-hour rates are still increasing, jumping by 7 percent month-over-month in May. All categories of chartered aircraft saw rate increases last month.
Turboprop charters led that increase with a 12 percent average hike to $4,110 per billable flight hour, according to JetASAP. This includes a low of $2,500 and a high of $5,955 per hour, with 52 percent of the turboprop rates coming in above the average.
Light jets experienced 9 percent higher average rates of $6,691, with the high level reaching $9,688 per hour. A trip from Chicago to Las Vegas in May on a Cessna Citation CJ3 was quoted at $19,000 while a request for a trip from Teterboro, New Jersey, to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, in a Phenom 300 resulted in a $12,508 quote.
Midsize jet charter prices were up 4 percent on average to $7,669 an hour, with a high level of $11,000, and super-midsize aircraft soared 6 percent to $10,376 per hour, with a high of $15,177. A trip from Miami to Aspen, Colorado, was quoted at $30,100 for a Citation XLS+ and $35,573 for a Citation X.
Meanwhile, heavy jet charters experienced a 3 percent increase to $12,411 per billable flight hour, with a high of $18,020. A trip from Van Nuys, California, to White Plains, New York, was quoted at $43,000 on a Bombardier Challenger 604.
The best rates are typically coming in about 30 days before departure, explained JetASAP CEO and founder Lisa Sayer. However, “As availability has risen, we now see operators sending more aggressive pricing outside of that window and sending quotes on multiple aircraft for one trip,” she said. In addition, clients may see lower costs in cases where repositioning is not necessary.
As for the increases, she said, “The higher prices tend to include longer repositioning costs, international trips, operators who do not float their fleets, or asap trips that need to depart the same or next day.”