Six Business Aviation Predictions for 2020

Adam Twidell, CEO of PrivateFly, offers his thoughts on the key industry trends to look out for in 2020

BOSTON, MA (December 18, 2019) – It’s been a busy year for on-demand private charter company PrivateFly, which has been integrating into Directional Aviation’s OneSky family, while continuing to generate growth that outperforms the market, in both Europe and the US.

CEO Adam Twidell reflects on the last twelve months and looks ahead to the key trends set to make industry headlines in 2020. He comments: “It’s been an eventful and exciting year here at PrivateFly. Under OneSky, 2019 has seen us double our global presence and start to evolve to reap the benefits of being part of a wider group for our clients, suppliers and partners.”
“The next twelve months are set to bring more innovation and growth – including steps forward in our technology and more exclusive on-demand offerings for our clients. But what can the wider industry expect to see in 2020? Here are my predictions for the year ahead.”

1) Electric aircraft accelerated
I believe business aviation will be the first sub-sector to implement electric aviation. With current limitations on battery capacity (to weight), the first generation of certified electric aircraft will be small and short-range – rather than commercial airliners.
In fact, just recently we saw the world’s first all-electric commercial test flight take place in Canada in a small seaplane. And with around 200 electric aircraft programs in development globally, 2020 will see further key milestones reached, and further test flights recorded.
I think (and hope) we’ll also see more lobbying to governments to speed the progress of electrification, both in aircraft development and in regulation and infrastructure.

2) Sustainability communications at the forefront
Business aviation has been focused on improving efficiency and mitigating its environmental impact in lots of ways, over many years. But with the awareness of climate change now accelerating rapidly, this year will see companies moving towards self-governance, and communicating their efforts publicly.
While our sector’s carbon emissions represent only a tiny percentage of aviation as a whole, corporate and individual clients will become more thoughtful about who they choose to fly with. So for flight providers in our industry, a clear sustainability strategy, and one which is credible and considered, will be an essential commercial consideration – as well as an environmental one.
This will also create business opportunities in business aviation (as in other industries) for tools and services to help companies manage and measure their carbon offsetting and other sustainability needs.

3) New aircraft on the rise
2019 saw many long-awaited new aircraft programs entering service, with shipments reaching the highest levels for a decade. 2020 can’t compete with new models, but it is set to be a year of significant growth for several recent market entries.
Embraer’s new Praetor 600 will lead growth in the super-midsize pack, and will soon be joined by its sister the Praetor 500. At the top of the market, Bombardier is set to ramp up deliveries for the supersize Global 7500, which entered the market this year.
We predicted last year that the heavy and super-mid categories would rise in popularity, and that trend is certainly still holding true, which we expect to continue through 2020 with these new aircraft entering the charter market.

4) More industry consolidation
Business models are continuing to evolve rapidly in our sector, with some succeeding and growing, and some failing.
It’s never been more important for clients to have confidence in the stability of their private aviation provider. We’re already seeing this in the US and I predict there will be more acquisitions, mergers, and unfortunately some losses, in Europe in 2020.

5) More extreme weather demand
Over the past few years, we’ve seen major spikes in on-demand charter activity related to extreme weather events. From forest fires to flooding to hurricanes and heavy snowfall, private aviation can fly in quickly, when and where required.
With these events seemingly getting more frequent, we’re expecting more of this type of demand in 2020.

6) Travel trends made possible by private jet
PrivateFly has continued its partnership with Virtuoso, growing our relationship with the professional travel community. On Virtuoso’s 2020 Luxe Report, they found that travelers are trending toward multi-country journeys that combine more experiences in one exciting trip.
We’re getting more and more requests to facilitate these multi-destination trips by chartering private aircraft to quickly and efficiently shuttle groups to their next stops – and we see this trend moving forward across the board in 2020 as well.

About PrivateFly:

PrivateFly is a leading booking platform for on-demand private jet charter and part of Directional Aviation’s OneSky group of companies. With thousands of accredited aircraft integrated worldwide, PrivateFly combines innovative technology with a team of aviation experts, available 24/7 – making it faster and easier to arrange a private jet, wherever and whenever you want to fly.
PrivateFly holds Argus Certified Broker and Wyvern Broker best practice accreditations and is a preferred partner of Virtuoso, the world’s leading luxury travel network. Established in 2008, PrivateFly’s Global Headquarters are located in St Albans, UK while the US operation is Headquartered in Boston with a sales office focused on the Americas in Ft. Lauderdale.

For further information, images or an interview, please contact: Nicole Wilke, PrivateFly T: 866-726-1222 E: nicole.wilke@privatefly.com Kody Kantor, Zapwater Communications T: 310-396-7851 or 310-991-0044 E: kody@zapwater.com