With the Covid-19 pandemic fuelling greater demand for private jet services, a pair of Singapore-based businessmen and aviation professionals saw a promising business opportunity in the lack of dedicated, locally-based charter services applicable to US-registered aircraft.
That led to Jamie Lenox and Stefan Wood setting up Air 7 Asia as a joint venture with Air 7, LLC, a private aviation jet services organisation. The company also aims to tap on renewed interest in better-value private jet charters.
Launched this year, Air 7 Asia acts as the Singapore-based branding and marketing arm for the services of Air 7, LLC. Owners of US-registered private aircraft in Asia can now request to join the Air 7, LLC Air Carrier Certificate to make their jet available for charter-back, thus allowing the owner to profit from their asset.
Through Air 7, LLC, Air 7 Asia can provide the services from its brand-new base at Seletar Airport in Singapore.
According to Wood, executive director of Air 7 Asia, over the past year, through sister company Singapore Air Charter, the majority of the charter work has been in the repatriation sector.
While tourism recovery in South-east Asia remains uncertain, Thailand’s Phuket Sandbox scheme sparked interest, along with the ease of travel in the Maldives. Currently, there is also an uptake in private jets for business and tourism-related travel for the Brunei and German travel lanes.
Air 7 Asia facilitates more aircraft for charter, which is timely as Wood expects pent-up demand for such specialised transportation to be huge. As evident in Europe and the US, private jet travel has been at an unprecedented high, as soon as Covid-19 restrictions eased.
Come December, Air 7 Asia’s first aircraft, Cessna Citation XL Eagle, will touch down in Seletar Airport, for chartering in the South-east Asia region.
Wood said: “We already have two aircraft coming under our umbrella in the next few months, with many more enquiries. The more aircraft we have available, the more options for every sector of private jet travel. We believe that this is a unique offer for the private jet owners of Singapore.”
