Panel Explores Business Aviation’s Challenges, Prospects for Post-COVID Growth

It’s now widely understood that the COVID-19 pandemic brought a new cohort of clientele to business aviation – businesspeople who understood its value in travelling by air when they couldn’t do so commercially. Many of those same clients have discovered other benefits the business aviation industry has long touted, including the ability to work productively en route to a destination, and travel where and when you want on your own schedule.

Those were some of the take-aways from a panel discussion hosted during EBACE Connect entitled, “Beyond Covid: Insights from Market Makers and Movers.” The discussion also covered issues surrounding sustainability, and how digitization can improve real-time seat-pricing models and increase operating efficiencies.

Moderated by Paul Walsh, senior manager of member services, EBAA, the panel included: Bernhard Fragner, CEO GlobeAir; Ian Moore, chief commercial officer, VistaJet and Alex Durand, CEO, Saxon Air.

Among the discussion points covered, the panel agreed that business aviation needs to continually focus on customer service, especially for those flyers who used business aviation for the first time during the pandemic.

Moore added that the perception of business aviation as strictly air travel for the wealthy is changing. “We are moving away from that concept of it being a luxury,” he said.

The panelists all expect business aviation to benefit from increases in business travel in the future.

“I think collectively, the movements and travel of a lot of people these days will change,” Moore said. “I think we’re really positive about what that’s going to mean for our industry.”