As Europe grapples with a summer of travel disruption, the wealthiest are taking matters into their own hands.
Private jet use has surged by almost a third in recent months compared with pre-pandemic levels, stretching airport capacity from Ibiza to Mykonos.
London logged the most private flights — more than 12,000 in July — while Naples, Amsterdam and Berlin recorded the biggest increases in private traffic among the most popular airports from 2019 levels, according to data compiled by the European Business Aviation Association.
The surge comes as Europeans, eager to travel as coronavirus restrictions were lifted, flocked to airlines that have struggled to add back staff they shed during the pandemic.
British Airways, Deutsche Lufthansa and other major carriers have cancelled tens of thousands of intra-European flights this summer amid staff shortages.
“The level of convenience is incomparable when you’re relying on scheduled airlines that have not put their game back together,” said Richard Koe, managing director at aviation consultancy WingX.
The number of people flying private for the first time has increased by as much as 40 per cent, he said.
Some European chief executives have made the switch to avoid the travel disruptions, as have many well-off American travellers enjoying the dollar’s recent gains against the euro.
North America made up the biggest proportion of international arrivals in Europe.
The rapid growth has sparked a political storm in France over private jets’ carbon emissions as the country tries to meet its climate targets.
In an August 20 interview with Le Parisien, Transport Minister Clement Beaune said he wants to require private jets to make flight details public and set guidelines for their use when rail or commercial air options are available.
In the UK, where tabloids have long called out celebrities, royals and others for using private jets, the shift is also drawing scrutiny.
With soaring inflation and a cost-of-living crisis bearing down on the lower and middle classes, the jet surge has become a point of economic contrast in the country.
London reported 37 per cent more private flights in July than in the same period in 2019, while Paris reported a 43 per cent increase, according to the data.
Overall in Europe, private traffic rose almost 30 per cent from pre-pandemic levels to nearly 179,000 flights.
The numbers are even more striking in light of the drop in air traffic from Russia following the conflict in Ukraine and steep international sanctions.
In July, Moscow reported just 354 private flights, a fraction of the 1,862 flights logged three years ago.
Private aviation has had its own set of disruptions. Many jets, for instance, are out of action due to maintenance delays caused by supply-chain issues in China.
“People used to call 24 or 48 hours ahead to get an aircraft to Ibiza,” said Isabelle Clerc, head of sales at Aeroaffaires, a network of private jet operators in Europe.
“That wasn’t a problem last year, but this year if you haven’t booked a week before you can forget it.”
Prices have risen accordingly, driven not only by the lack of planes but also by a 73 per cent rise in jet fuel prices since last summer.
Flying private from Paris to Mykonos now costs about €25,000 ($24,993), almost twice as much as a year ago, according to Aeroaffaires.
With the threat of global recession, the outlook is unclear.
WingX’s Mr Koe said the current tightness in the private jet market could continue if airlines are forced to continue cutting flights into the winter.
The five pillars of Islam
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What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
The Voice of Hind Rajab
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Bio:
Favourite Quote: Prophet Mohammad's quotes There is reward for kindness to every living thing and A good man treats women with honour
Favourite Hobby: Serving poor people
Favourite Book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite food: Fish and vegetables
Favourite place to visit: London
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Keane on …
Liverpool’s Uefa Champions League bid: “They’re great. With the attacking force they have, for me, they’re certainly one of the favourites. You look at the teams left in it - they’re capable of scoring against anybody at any given time. Defensively they’ve been good, so I don’t see any reason why they couldn’t go on and win it.”
Mohamed Salah’s debut campaign at Anfield: “Unbelievable. He’s been phenomenal. You can name the front three, but for him on a personal level, he’s been unreal. He’s been great to watch and hopefully he can continue now until the end of the season - which I’m sure he will, because he’s been in fine form. He’s been incredible this season.”
Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s instant impact at former club LA Galaxy: “Brilliant. It’s been a great start for him and for the club. They were crying out for another big name there. They were lacking that, for the prestige of LA Galaxy. And now they have one of the finest stars. I hope they can go win something this year.”
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Wednesday's results
Finland 3-0 Armenia
Faroes Islands 1-0 Malta
Sweden 1-1 Spain
Gibraltar 2-3 Georgia
Romania 1-1 Norway
Greece 2-1 Bosnia and Herzegovina
Liechtenstein 0-5 Italy
Switzerland 2-0 Rep of Ireland
Israel 3-1 Latvia
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Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
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