Air Charter Service has recorded sales of $770 million for the first six months of its financial year (H1) from February 1, 2022, to July 31, 2022. The charter has recorded an increase of 49% over the same period last year, with all three of its major divisions hugely outperforming last year’s figures.
ACS Founder and Chairman, Chris Leach, said: “Last year was our record year, with revenue of $1.8bn, but at the halfway point we weren’t in as good shape as we are for this one. All three divisions of cargo, private jets, and group travel have truly outdone themselves. Different divisions and regions peaked at different times over the last two years but, for this year so far, the peaks seem to have come all at once.”
“The strong resurgence of the private jet market across the globe continues and revenue is not only up 56% on last year, which was driven in part by the return of long-haul private jet travel, but also still nearly 25% above the pre-pandemic levels of 2019," added Leach. The group saw an increase in the number of customer bookings by 15% last year as the travel restrictions lifted, with the live flight numbers showing a 32% growth. The airline anticipates this increase in flight per customer to the popular jet card offering, coupled with the group’s position as a broker eventually leading them to big gains as compared to other competitor airlines.
About 57% of the revenue growth came from the US markets that continues to be Air Charter's stronghold.
“The strong resurgence of the private jet market across the globe continues and revenue is not only up 56% on last year, which was driven in part by the return of long-haul private jet travel, but also still nearly 25% above the pre-pandemic levels of 2019,” added Leach.
Commenting on the cargo side, Leach said: “The cargo industry remains strong with our cargo division generating 44% more revenue than at the halfway point of 2021, as supply chains continue to struggle. We expect a cooling of the market at some point and there are signs of it in certain regional markets and sectors. However, as of September, we have not seen that translate to a slowdown of our overall cargo business.”
Going ahead, the group expects a slower recovery in H2 as compared to H1.