Posted on May 6th, 2011
Projected air charter demand dipped slightly from last month, but this has had negligible impact on anticipated pricing levels, according to the latest forward-looking index from online charter portal Avinode. The company’s demand index for this month stands at 109.53, about 12 points down from the month-ago level of 121.65 but still 26 points up on where it had stood 12 months earlier. The May pricing index is down from last month but by barely a quarter of one point and is still more than seven points ahead of where it was a year ago. Avinode’s statistics for average flight-hour rates actually paid over the past month show more pronounced fluctuations and geographical differences. In North America, average rates for three selected aircraft types showed flight-hour rates to be down by more than 7 percent across the board month-over-month, and down by similar amounts compared with three months earlier. The average May 2 rate for a Cessna Citation Excel in North America was $3,272, while those for a Hawker 800 and a Challenger 604 were $3,470 and $5,050, respectively. Internationally, the average rates for the Excel and the Challenger increased moderately, to €2,750 ($4,070) and €4,730 ($7,000), respectively. The average rate for the Hawker 800 dipped by an equally small margin to €3,023 ($4,474).
Tags: jet charter
