Abu Dhabi’s Royaljet will add more aircraft and start hiring too

Dubai: Abu Dhabi-based private jet operator Royaljet wants to get back to pre-COVID-19 levels of staffing within months.

“We did downsize at one point, but now we have to bring as many of those people back as possible as well as additional workforce to get back to our previous levels of staffing,” said Rob DiCastri, CEO of RoyalJet, which is the world’s biggest operator of Boeing Business Jets. “We tried our best in Covid (times) not to ramp down too far – we held on to as many employees as we could.”

The business jet sector was one of the first in the aviation industry to bounce back as airline passenger services came to a halt. Frequent corporate flyers also view private jets as a safer mode of travel.

Although demand this year has come off of the highs seen in 2020 and 2021, Royaljet plans to add more aircraft as part of its post-COVID-19 strategy. “We’ve taken on more aircraft under management over the past year than we’ve ever had before,” the CEO said. “We expect to have at least two more aircraft in the fleet this year, taking us to 16 aircraft. We’re looking at ordering new aircraft potentially - we’re basically trying to formulate and finalize the strategy for the company, post-COVID-19.”

The Royaljet chief sees great opportunities in the market as airlines are still restoring full frequencies on certain routes. “It’s taking longer to come back and airplanes with First and Business class are not available yet in most parts of the world,” said DiCastri. “Private aviation is hanging on to those customers”

Dubai, which opened itself to visitors as early as July 2020, quickly became a tourist hotspot as most countries enforced travel and strict lockdowns at home. Private jet movements at Dubai South soared 336 per cent in the first quarter of 2021, compared to the same period in 2020. “From late 2020 until almost mid-2021, there was a lot of private jet traffic,” he added. “Their numbers went through the roof compared to historical figures because people really didn’t have anywhere else to go.”

Chartered flights really caught the public’s attention last year when UAE suspended flights from a handful of countries, including major source markets such as India and Pakistan. Expats quickly banded together and booked chartered aircraft to circumvent restrictions placed on normal commercial flights. Royaljet’s exposure to this section of the market is limited given its high-profile clientele. However, DiCastri agrees that the overall trend has driven more people to private aviation and this brand-new customer base might be here to stay.

“The whole pandemic has created that opportunity, which is basically giving people a service and an experience that they don’t want to leave,” said the executive.

The Royaljet CEO said that private jet operators have been facing stiff competition from Middle East-based full-service carriers. “The major airlines have a high quality First and Business class product – you don’t find that in the rest of the world” said DiCastri. He said that a passenger in US – the world’s biggest aviation market - would have to opt for a small aircraft and choose an alternate airport to enjoy the same kind of services that UAE’s airlines provide.

DiCastri agreed that UK’s recent move to remove all travel restrictions had affected demand for its aircraft. “Historically, we do a lot of travel to the UK and that picked back up in the last six months, for sure.”

Switzerland, Morocco, Seychelles and Maldives are among the most popular destinations among flyers. “It’s spread around because it depends on individual choice,” said DiCastri.