Maersk Air – Charter Airline

While the year is still young, a lot has happened in the jet charter services industry during the first few months of 2011. Most of it is good news, as the industry recovers from the recession, but some emerging stories could put a damper on what was looking like a year of recovery and growth. Listed below are some top stories so far this year, and what to look out for in the remaining 9 months.

The Big Story: Jet charter services help evacuate stranded foreign nationals from Libya

Charter airplanes assist tremendously in times of emergency, going exactly where they are needed and ensuring the safe delivery or transport of people and critical supplies. In the recent chaos in Libya, with thousands of foreign nationals stranded in the country, jet charter services have been essential in evacuating citizens from the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, among others.

Industry Expansion: The business climate for corporate jet rental and general jet charter services improves in the U.S., booms in other parts of the world

As the United States and the rest of the world recover from the recent economic downturn, there are signs that the rate of corporate jet rental is increasing. As The Wall Street Journal and the National Business Aviation Association note, the industry appears to be starting a slow, but steady recovery in North America.

Meanwhile, in emerging markets that have recovered much more quickly from the global recession than has the U.S., the jet charter industry is expanding rapidly. In the United Arab Emirates, for example, jet charter brokers have posted record revenue growth, with one company experiencing a 120 percent growth rate from January 2010 to January 2011.

China has also experienced rapid growth in its jet charter services industry, despite a difficult regulatory environment. With a growing wealthy class in China looking for high quality services, some Chinese are shelling out tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars to charter a plane for either domestic destinations or abroad. This expansion is highlighted nicely by a report from the end of January about the first-ever direct charter flight from China to Hawaii, hopefully the start of many more flights to come.

For Rest of the Year: Rising oil prices could increase costs, damage business

According to Britain’s Independent, one jet charter broker has already increased fees on passengers due to rising oil prices stemming from the recent unrest in Libya and the greater Middle East. Could this damage the corporate jet rental business and its attempts to recover? Check back in with us throughout the year to see how this and other stories in the jet charter services industry play out.