Bluebird Aviation report: Air charter business drop drastically

Air Charter business travel has been drastically impacted by the Covid-19 Pandemic as many customers opt to work from home and most business transactions moved online.

Bluebird Aviation General Manager, Captain Hussein Mohammed said that the business segment was affected in terms of those dedicated charter airlines after most people decided to work from home due to the ongoing pandemic.

“This Business segment has been drastically affected by virtue of the fact that you can transact business in a zoom meeting and electronically you can now transact business. So technology has evolved to an extent where you are able to transact business without having to go to a physical destination like Singapore or London,” said Captain Mohammed.

Mohammed added that assuming Air Charter business was say 70 per cent pre-COVID times, Charters are now down about 20 to 30 per cent which has never been witnessed before.

Medical Charter has also reduced drastically since most patients being transferred to different destinations are now having relief and are Covid-19 positive.

“No airline wants to expose their staff, both cockpit and cabin crew to COVID. Most airlines want to first know the medical status of the passenger before they start the evacuation process. Most of these cases are referred to airlines that are specially equipped for medical evacuation,” said Captain Mohamed.

However, commercial airlines business travel has been enhanced to a little extent by the virtue of the fact that those who can afford it and want to fly, there is sufficient social distancing and more room in the business class.

Air Charter simply means, ‘Air Taxi’ where an airline takes you to a destination, waits for you to transact your business and then flies you back.