Europe gets set for the biggest private jet weekend of the year

With the Monaco Grand Prix, Champions League Final, French Open Tennis and Cannes Film Festival climax all taking place this coming weekend, Europe's private jets are set for their annual peak weekend in demand, according to PrivateFly.com.

The private jet booking service is reporting a 270 per cent increase in forward bookings compared to an average weekend. And with its usual booking lead time just three days ahead of flight, it is forecasting continued uplift this week. PrivateFly says that Europe's business aviation industry as a whole will experience a significant surge in activity over the next few days, predicting over 5,000 flights this Friday (23rd May) alone.

Mehdi Dialmy, head of PrivateFly’s flight team, comments: "High profile sporting and entertainment events generate private jet peaks throughout the year, but this coming weekend in Europe sees a combination of events that - together - create the year’s biggest weekend of demand. This peak will continue to nudge the industry back into an upward climb, as the start of the busy summer season."

In addition to film and Formula One coinciding in the Cote D’Azur, Lisbon is hosting the Champions League final and the Roland Garros French Open Tennis is opening in Paris. Plus a UK bank holiday and school half term will generate more flight activity from luxury leisure travellers. Dialmy adds: "These events attract high profile corporates, celebrities, sports fans and other luxury travellers, using private jets to set their own schedule. In some cases, they are using private jet travel to make a flying visit to one event, then to shuttle across Europe to others."

According to PrivateFly, the same weekend last year (Fri 24rd - Mon 27th May 2013) saw a big surge in Europe's business aviation traffic, with 40 per cent more flights compared to an average weekend. Over 14,000 private jet flights took place across Europe from the Friday to the Monday*.

Dialmy adds: "On the Cote D'Azur, Nice airport (open 24 hours and with three dedicated private jet terminals) is seeing the majority of the traffic, but Cannes Mandelieu, an exclusive private jet airport that is closest to the film festival venue, is also at full capacity. With parking at a premium, many jets will have to drop and go, using smaller airports such as nearby Toulon, as overflow parking zones.

"Elsewhere, the UEFA Champions League final will see a surge in private jet traffic into Portugal, especially from Spain of course. Paris Le Bourget, already the busiest private jet airport in Europe, will also see VIP arrivals for the French Open, which begins on Sunday.

"At PrivateFly, our flight numbers for this weekend are three times higher than average. We are expecting to continue booking flights right up to and over this peak weekend."

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