From Davos to Art Basel: the map of private flights favourite destinations.
Where do the super-rich go, who can afford the property or rental of private flights? In fact, international Scrooges have their own calendar of appointments not to be missed. The main events to move the super-rich are American and European. In Asia, the network is expanding and private jet leasing operators are increasing their offerings due to events such as the special edition of Art Basel, the big contemporary art fair held in Hong Kong. In general, apart from the key appointments presented below, the traffic of private aircraft has seen an increase in some Mediterranean seaside resorts, especially in Ibiza, as commented Richard Koe, director of Wingx Advance. It should be noted, in this geography holidays of the rich, some recovery of Greece and Turkey. Istanbul, in particular, is becoming a great venue for VIP events, such as boat shows or grand prix, “but everything will depend on security”. In the Middle East, Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi attract. But even then, it will be a global event, like the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which will stimulate the sector.
Private flights traffic month by month
To return to the general situation, in January, the super-rich fly mainly to Davos, Switzerland, where is held the inevitable World Economic Forum. The destination grew by 16% between 2012 and 2014, with arrivals from France, Germany, the United States and Great Britain. There were 528 flights. The following month, they were all at the Superbowl, the final of the American football championship, whose attractiveness had dropped by 20%. 661 private aircraft arrived mainly from the United Kingdom, Mexico and Canada. In April, the Augusta Masters, Georgia, is one of the four most important tournaments of the world golf season. In this case, planes from Canada, the United Kingdom and France occupy the airport grounds, with an increase of + 15% over the last three years and a total of 165 trips.
In May, horse racing time has come: Scrooge’s jet set will be flying to the Kentucky Derby, a historic race scheduled from 1875 on the Churchill Downs circuit in Louisville, Kentucky. The race is reserved for English thoroughbreds of three years. Great interest also from Germany for an event that, in recent years, saw its quotations rise by 15% (511 flights). The month is shared with Montecarlo, place of the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix (they also come from Italy, 83% of air traffic is obviously occupied by international arrivals, for a total of 425 connections). In June, the big season of creativity begins with the Aspen Ideas festival, which has increased by 8% between 2012 and 2014 with around a hundred arrivals and departures. A period that continues, again in June, with Art Basel, the main edition of the Swiss fair, where VIP arrivals are mainly concentrated in Italy, France and Great Britain (93% of international traffic at that time for local airports, 168 flights).
In September, we return to Monaco for the Monaco Yacht Show (in this case, the Germans and Russians arrive with 88 flights). Surprisingly, the Oktoberfest also stands out from its small space (31 arrivals) in September with transfers especially in September, especially from Austria, Russia and Italy. Watch out that pilots do not overdrink the excellent German beer! The flight season ends again with the art: excluding the huge traffic recorded around the fourth Thursday of November for the US Thanksgiving (5,325 flights), private jets bring the happy occupants to another great event, Frieze, in London (more particularly from Italy, Switzerland and France, 70 transfers) and again at Art Basel but this time at the other end of the world, in Miami, the event which has experienced the greatest growth in recent years with + 28%, and 191 total private trips.