Charter aircraft firms may see uptick in biz in next three months

General aviation companies expect a good demand for charter flights over the next three months as they offer better convenience and safety than regular passenger flights.

Non-scheduled domestic operations, which include private and charter flights, began on Monday. International charter companies are expected to resume operations as soon after the government, on Tuesday, issued guidelines for transporting stranded Indians from overseas.

In the first two days, Delhi airport saw 22 non-scheduled flights. Prior to March 24, the airport handled around 25 such flights daily.

"Traffic-wise we are getting back to pre-suspension figures and we are hopeful of growth," said Anurag Srivastava, CEO of Bird ExecuJet Airport Services, which handles general aviation operations at Delhi airport.

"Charter companies are anticipating business from NRIs and well healed Indians who are looking to return to India. ," said Atiesh Mishra, founder of AJM Jet Management.

"We are sanitizing all planes prior to each departure and have adequate personal protective equipment for pilots and crew. We see substantial growth in business in next three months. I believe many passengers would switch to charters seeing overall inconvenience in travelling in regular passenger flight in the current environment," said Rajan Mehra, CEO of Club One Air which operates ten planes.

A charter flight can cost a customer from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 3.5 - 4 lakh per hour depending on the type of aircraft.

Passengers taking charter  jets have to take all safety related precautions like downloading Aarogya Setu and wearing a  mask.

Under the new norms for domestic travel, passenger of charter flights have to report 45 minutes before departure (for airlines it's two hours). The guidelines also do not put a  cap on number of luggage pieces one can carry on a charter flight. However, there will be no meal service on domestic charter flights and food can only provided for health reasons on emergency medical services flights.

Those keen to return to India on a charter flight will have to register themselves with the local Indian embassy and take health precautions. However pre-packed snacks can be served on international flights according to the guidelines.