Air charter is the business of renting an entire

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engine ...

(i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a

ticket Ticket or tickets may refer to: Slips of paper * Lottery ticket * Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start) * Toll ticket, a slip of paper used to indicate where vehicles entered a tol ...

through a traditional

airline An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in wh ...

Regulation

Charter – also called

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. In 2001 air taxi operations were promoted in the United States by a NASA and aerospace industry study on the potential Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) ...

or ad hoc – flights require certification from the associated country's civil aviation authority. The regulations are differentiated from typical commercial/passenger service by offering a non-scheduled service. Analogous regulations generally also apply to

air ambulance Air medical services is a comprehensive term covering the use of air transportation, aeroplane or helicopter, to move patients to and from healthcare facilities and accident scenes. Personnel provide comprehensive prehospital and emergency and cri ...

and cargo operators, which are often also ad hoc for-hire services.

United States

In the U.S. these flights are regulated under FAA Part 135. There are some cases where a charter operator can sell scheduled flights, but only in limited quantities. As of 2021, the FAA had made it a priority to crack down on unauthorised charter flights, according to industry experts.

Types of service

There are several business models which offer air charter services from the traditional charter operator to brokers and jet card programs: * Charter operators – certified by their associated government body such as the

FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

for US carriers have legal authority to advertise and conduct flights for hire. * Air charter broker – Charter brokers arrange flights on behalf of their clients, acting as "authorized agents". *

Jet card A Private Jet Card is a private aviation product that enables holders to use different aircraft at agreed-upon fixed hourly rates. Jet cards are offered by large and small fleet operators and charter brokers. There are as many as 65 variables betwe ...

– Programs offered by both brokers and operators where a customer is offered a fixed hourly rate for a specific jet category and the broker or operator sources a jet from the available charter fleet. * Online marketplace – Online booking platform where the client can choose and book the desired aircraft directly with the operator.

Aircraft categories

Charter aircraft categories include: * Seaplanes – examples:

DHC-2 Beaver The de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver is a single-engined high-wing propeller-driven short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft developed and manufactured by de Havilland Canada. It has been primarily operated as a bush plane and has been used ...

DHC-3 Otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter is a single-engined, high-wing, propeller-driven, short take-off and landing (STOL) aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada. It was conceived to be capable of performing the same roles as the earlier and h ...

* Turbo props – examples: Pilatus PC-12, King Air 350, Piaggio P-180 Avanti * Light jets – examples: Phenom 300, Citation CJ3 * Mid-cabin jets – examples:

Learjet 60 The Learjet 60 is a mid-size cabin, medium-range business jet aircraft manufactured by Bombardier Aerospace in Wichita, Kansas. Powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW305A engines, it has a range (with 4 passengers and 2 crew) of with NBAA ...

, Hawker 800XP * Super mid-cabin jets – examples: Citation X, Challenger 300 * Large jets – examples: Bombardier Challenger 605, Falcon 900 * Ultra long-range jets – examples: Gulfstream V, Gulfstream G650, Dassault Falcon 7X * VIP airliners – examples: Boeing Business Jet,

Airbus Corporate Jets Airbus Corporate Jets, a business unit of Airbus SAS and part of Airbus, markets and completes corporate jet variants from the parent's airliner range. Types include the A318 Elite to the double/triple-decked Airbus A380 Prestige. Following t ...

There are an estimated 15,000 business jets available for charter in the world. The US market is the largest, followed by the European market with growing activity in the Middle East, Asia, and Central America.

References

External links