Coronavirus: wealthy Japanese flying private jets in greater numbers, ANA says
- Inquiries for private jets are up 30 per cent on pre-pandemic levels, says ANA Business Jet, which is expecting sales of US$9 million in the 2022 financial year
- There’s been a rise in businesspeople wishing to go to Japan and citizens stuck overseas wanting to come home but are unable to secure regular flights
The push means that ANA Holdings Inc’s private jet charter business is expecting sales of 1 billion yen (US$9 million) in the 2022 financial year, Jun Katagiri, the chief executive officer of ANA Business Jet Inc, said last week. ANA Business Jet is owned jointly by ANA and trading company Sojitz Corp.
Inquiries for private charters are running at about 20 a month, up 30 per cent on pre-pandemic levels, according to Katagiri. “This will be a new option for transport,” he said, declining to disclose past years’ sales.
Compared to Europe or the US, Japan is a small market for private jet operators, in part because domestic transport is so quick and efficient, and the nation is relatively small in size.
But there has been a rise in businesspeople wishing to go to Japan from other countries who are flying private, as well as Japanese stuck overseas wanting to come home and who have not been able to secure regular flights due to Covid.
In 2019, the number of wealthy households in Japan reached 1.3 million, the highest since 2005, with net financial assets hitting 333 trillion yen, according to the Nomura Research Institute. Their ranks are increasing due to former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ultra-easy monetary policy.
It costs about 39 million yen for a round trip from Tokyo to New York on a jet with 13 seats, and 30 million yen to fly to Los Angeles and back. Hiring a private plane for a round trip to Beijing from Japan’s capital will set you back 15 million yen.