We are continuing to see more and more commercial airline companies teaming up with private jet charter companies to offer different opportunities in travel. The most recent company to join the private jet charter market is British Airways.
British Airways has teamed up with CitationAir to offer the latest in no frills private jet charters. AirlineTrends.com recently reported:
British Airways has teamed up with CitationAir, the private jet charter subsidiary of Cessna Aircraft, to offer its passengers a private jet connection within North America and the Caribbean. The new PrivateConnect service pitches itself as a ‘no-frills’ private jet service.
It is also stated in the article that:
“The service is available to anyone who has flown with BA in the past 12 months, members of BA’s frequent flyer programme, as well as employees of the airline’s corporate clients. BA customers can also use PrivateConnect to fly within North America if they haven’t arrived on or are due to depart onto another flight. Costs range from USD6,000 to USD10,000 per jet per hour depending on the type of aircraft. Chauffeured transport will be on hand after clearing customs to drive customers between their British Airways flight and CitationAir private jet. BA currently flies to 19 destinations in America.”
British Airways is joining Korean Air who recently joined with FlexJet and they join of course Delta and Lufthansa who has been partnering with private jet companies since 2008 to offer the service. As stated in their report, private jet companies, due to the current economic issues and industry decline are finding other distribution channels for their services. This also offers up ways for some of the larger commercial airlines to offer ways for their premium customers to find ways to expand their ability to land at airports where the larger commercial airlines are not able. This allows some of the passengers to go to destinations that were not available to them in previous bookings. This does make sense for the private jet companies, the airlines, and the luxury passengers.