App Dubbed ‘Uber For Private Jets’ Launches On Europe’s Most Popular Routes

Dubbed the ‘Uber for private jets’, a new app service has been launched in Europe which gives customers the opportunity to book empty seats on some of the continent’s most popular routes.

Booking a place on a private jet travelling between some of Europe’s top destinations can now be done by app Image by 2010 World Cup – Shine 2010 / CC BY 2.0

These include flights between London, Paris and Geneva where a tap of a smartphone can get you on board. JetSmarter, which launched in the US three years ago, is also lining up routes to Nice in May and then has Moscow in its sights for later in the year. The Daily Telegraph reports that a seat on a six-seat Citation CJ3 departing from London to Paris could be booked this week for US$749 (£525), while a ticket to ride in luxury between Britain and Geneva costs US$999 (£703).

Private jet travel can now be a reality through JetSmarter which aims to take away f the hustle and bustle of commercial flights Image by Alan Light / CC BY 2.0

In the US, it would cost $599 for a last-minute ticket on similar jet between LA and San Francisco. The price jumps to $1,599 for a ticket a 16-seater going from New York to Chicago. Travellers using a 12-person flight from San Francisco to New York would have to fork out almost $5,000. The JetSmarter app allows customers to book on a pay-as-you-go basis. It also offers an annual membership with unlimited travel for $9,000.

The founder and chief executive of JetSmarter, Sergey Petrossov, says that by offering the JetShuttle service, they plan to make the best use in Europe of the convenience of private air travel and increase access to it. These weekly scheduled flights into popular destinations are convenient and affordable and mean the hustle and bustle of commercial flights could now be considered a thing of the past.

The app also offers a charter service which allows the booking of an entire flight on unused private planes in JetSmarter’s network. This, however, would be substantially more costly than just booking a spare seat on a flight already scheduled. He expects the JetShuttle service will be operating in 150 cities within two years. Mr Petrossov predicted that the JetShuttle service would be operating in 150 cities by 2018.

Created by PJ Cunningham

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Private Jet Travel For The Simply Very Rich Takes Off With Two Startups

Two startups are betting that more of the very wealthy set want totravel like the megawealthy do: in private jets. The companies – JetSmarter and Beacon — are both announcing this week that they have raised money from investors. JetSmarter is already offering flights between New York and Miami as well as between San Francisco and Los Angeles and elsewhere. Beacon aims to start offering as many as 18 flights a day between New York and Boston starting in mid-September.

“Our overall goal is to make all air travel private,” predicts Sergey Petrossov, founder of JetSmarter. Not this year, of course. JetSmarter is announcing on July 23 that it raised $20 million from investors who include celebrities it wouldn’t name, members of the Saudi royal family. and family offices “including top c-level executives from companies such as Goldman Sachs and Twitter TWTR -1.3%.” Petrossov founded JetSmarter in 2012. He won’t say how many customers the company has; instead he says, “This year we intend to occupy 10,000 flights.” JetSmarter doesn’t own any jets; it pre-purchases a certain amount of inventory on jets that are commercially registered. For $9,000 a year –the minimum commitment — customers can fly as much as they want. Petrossov says the company has done next to no marketing and most of its customers so far have come via word of mouth.

"At the forefront of this new era in travel, we believe that JetSmarter’s proprietary services and offerings have, and will continue to revolutionize the industry,” Prince Abdullah bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, a member of the Saudi royal family and an investor in JetSmarter, said in a statement from the company.

JetSmarter’s app for booking private jet travel.

Beacon will require a minimum 3-month commitment and a fee of $2,000 a month for unlimited flights between New York’s Westchester Airport and Boston Logan Airport. Members who join before August 1 will not have to pay an additional $1,000 initiation fee. The company announced on July 22 that it raised $7.5 million in Series A funding from Romulus Capital, MiVentures and Western Technologies Investment. Beacon cofounder Wade Eyerly, who cofounded a similar outfit called Surf Air in California in 2013, says Beacon has contracted with a group called Dynamic Aviation to operate the flights. That’s one big difference from Surf Air, which owns its own aircraft, says Eyerly.

Eyerly’s goal is to get people more quickly and comfortably between New York and Boston — in about an hour and a half from midtown Manhattan to downtown Boston, figuring a 40 minute drive up to Westchester Airport and a 40 minute flight time. That’s significantly shorter than the 3 1/2 hours it takes on the train and the 3 to 4 hours door to door it takes to fly commercially between New York and Boston, says Eyerly. “You’re buying back time,” he says. “We take the pain out of the chore you have to do.”

Beacon will offer flights on executive aircraft starting in September. (Photo courtesy of Beacon)

Eyerly predicts  –based in part on sign-ups so far — that his customer base will be age 35-65, 60% male, with an average income of $400,000 to $500,000 a year. “We know that they like cycling, wine and food,” he adds.

JetSmarter and Beacon join a number of other companies that have delved into private jet travel for the mass affluent, including Victor, Ubair and Jetsuite. For customers with plenty of funds and little time, the new services have a definite appeal.

It’s hard to imagine a future in which all air travel takes place on private jets. But it’s clearly a growing segment.

By @KerryDolan , www.forbes.com

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