The role of an airline when accepting your payment is to safely move you from A to B, at the date and time with which you book. But, Australian travellers can and should expect more than this common excuse.
We’re extremely lucky in Australia that our national airline safety record is among the best in the world.
But, in terms of arriving on the date and time as scheduled, the airlines are grossly failing (55% of the time airlines were on time), and that is if they get you there at all (6.4% average cancellation rate).
This doesn’t even consider the unfortunate experience some travellers encountered in queuing for hours outside the terminal, curbside; or being told they weren’t ‘match fit’ for travel.
This ongoing decline of the airlines was what led Ola, a fast-paced and energetic business leader in the cosmetics industry, to seek an alternative.
Despite Ola’s high Frequent Flyer status and ability to use her business-trip accumulated points for regular holidays with her young family, Ola needed certainty as her quality of travel and subsequently life and job were being affected.
The unreliability was impacting her business trips, at best adding delays, and often resulting in cancelled client or supplier meetings. Even her holidays this year were impacted – compounded by the fact Ola was flying with her two young children.
Ola came across Airly and our Access program on social media, which immediately appealed.
A single product that allowed her to travel for business and leisure.
A profound increase to reliability, convenience, and flexibility when travelling on business, and the most enjoyable experience when flying with her family. And, of course, peace of mind that Ola and her family are flying in a proven aircraft, underpinned by a strong safety system.
Hörsching (Linz), Austria and Melbourne, Australia, 28 July 2022 – GlobeAir AG and Airly have entered into a long-term strategic business partnership.
Austrian operator GlobeAir, the leading and award-winning private jet charter company in Europe, is proud to announce a new alliance with Australia’s most trusted private aviation company, Airly. GlobeAir will increase its presence in Australia by partnering with Airly, and both operators will transform their offerings to provide world-class service within Europe and Australia.
The new GlobeAir and Airly alliance will collaborate its commitment to maximising efficiency and putting more travellers back in control of their schedule, bringing together both organisations’ collective knowledge and experience to always keep the focus on the client.
‘’Through this new alliance, we will be able to offer enhanced travel services, international expansion efforts supported, and operational efficiency increased, resulting in win-win cooperation that will benefit our organisations and our customers.’’ Luke Hampshire, Airly CEO
Both organisations already have a growing clientele within Austria and Australia. The partnership will leverage both companies’ strengths to offer a better experience, especially with the upcoming European Winter and Australian Summer. Through this partnership, customers will receive discounted rates already agreed upon by both companies.
This new partnership will allow GlobeAir and Airly to expand their network and access over 1,600 airports in Europe and Australia. In addition, it will increase their exposure to the global aviation market.
‘’Globally, consumers are demanding more choice and convenience. In order to meet those demands, GlobeAir and Airly are able to collaborate to offer customers a better experience and higher flexibility within our respective regions.’’ Jonathan Berdoz, VP Sales & Marketing.
With a focus on digital transformation, GlobeAir and Airly lead within the Private Business Aviation sector and will maximise their existing infrastructure with passengers able to book flights within minutes using WhatsApp. This fantastic service provides quick and accessible services for travellers who want a quote or need help booking flights on the go.
With the popularity of WhatsApp as part of daily life, this service helps make travelling more efficient for passengers from the comfort of their cellphone, transforming travellers’ journeys from A to B, one flight at a time.
Customers can still expect to receive tailored travel solutions from the dedicated concierge service. Both organisations pride themselves on tailormade bespoke unforgettable travel experiences after every landing.
About GlobeAir With more than 50% of the market share, GlobeAir is Europe’s leader in the entry-level private jet sector, including a premium experience. With 160 employees (80 pilots), the company generates about 96 per cent of its revenues abroad. GlobeAir is available 24/7 all over Europe with 21 private jets connecting European cities like London, Geneva, Zurich, Paris, Nice, and Milan with small airfields that are difficult to reach such as St. Moritz or Lugano and 950 more. The company has achieved its success through dedication and by offering bespoke service before, during and after the flight. Charter rates start from € 4,400, and empty legs from € 990.
*Prices per Cessna Citation Mustang Jet
About Airly Airly is an Australian-based private aviation provider that was founded in December of 2015 launching charter and empty leg services. Airly’s vision is to make flying private simple to understand, accessible to more, and at a palatable price point. This vision was realised in June of 2021 with the launch of ACCESS by Airly. The first program of its kind in Australia where card holders could pay a fixed, occupied hourly rate on the Cessna Citation Mustang along the East Coast of Australia covering destinations including Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast and Hamilton Island on the Great Barrier Reef.
As a note, assistance dogs have always been allowed on board.
A moved welcomed by pet owners alike, but realistically, none of Australia’s airlines have moved to change their policies.
Qantas and Jetstar turned a blind eye to the change, giving it no further thought.
Virgin and Rex said they’ll explore the option. Subtly flagging new revenue opportunities. Virgin even ran a poll on Facebook resulting in 68% of respondents voting in favour of allowing pets onboard.
Although we’re your pet’s biggest fans, we’re not quite sure what it would be like flying in a cabin full of anxious cats and dogs.
The good news is, your beloved furry family member is welcome on all Access by Airly flights.
There’s no additional fees to pay, just allow another 5-10mins for your pilot and ground staff to admire them.
It was our pet-friendly policy that resulted in Ally and Joey signing up to the program, ensuring little Ollie could travel with them stress-free.
Travelling with children is stressful, but travelling with your beloved furry friends can be even more of an ordeal.
The only place your pet can travel is in the cargo hold.
An environment that’s cold, loud and extremely frightening.
Let’s not forget the extra time required to drop your pet off to the carrier, and the stress of hoping they put your beloved dog or cat onto the correct aircraft.
Ever wondered how brokers and operators set their price when you book a private jet?
In most cases they determine the total flight time from the jet’s home base, to your location, to your destination and finally back to the jet’s home base.
Simple enough?
But for our card holder, Will, being located away from the major cities meant he was paying significantly more to have a jet position empty to pick him up.
Will would pay for 5 hours of flying for his 2 hour flight. He only tried charter once before deciding the cost couldn’t be justified.
An Australian-first, Will is only billed for the time he is on the Cessna Citation Mustang, our program aircraft. He doesn’t pay empty positioning fees.
Airly achieves this via a network approach with over 30 card holders requesting flights in all directions. The operations team can then allocate a jet to pickup multiple card holder flights.
The efficient network means there’s less ‘waste’ (empty flying) and provides a very compelling price structure for its card holders.
So how does the program stack up versus charter?
Not only do we transform your A to B, we make it cost effective.
Card holders who felt they’d fly private once or twice a year are now flying every month.
Several never thought they’d fly private, and now they experience it multiple times a year.
Requiring under 1,000 metres of sealed runway to safely take off and land opens a new world to our card holders.
At the time of writing, the program coverage area provides safe access to 130+ airports in South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Australia Capital Territory, New South Wales and Queensland.
It was this facet of the program that was so important to our card holder Will.
He is able to take off from an airport much closer to home, and land at an airport far closer to his final destination.
Not only does this save Will time, it is far more convenient removing the fatigue of multi leg trips he previously experienced.
So whether you’re flying Tumut to Taree, or Echuca to Emerald, the Mustang will get you there.
Will has a strong heritage in agriculture. A third generation farmer who’s seen it all.
Droughts and floods, through to the ups and downs of international trade.
Growing up as a kid, Will’s father was in charge of the family farming businesses. His father would spend weeks away from home travelling between farms, warehouses and sites.
And although his father would have loved to be in one place with the family, the conditions weren’t always perfect for crops so one location turned into three across multiple states.
The little family business grew quickly into a successful operation in numerous facets of agriculture.
When Will began working in the business, he would spend days on the road with his Dad. Great for bonding but horrible for efficiency.
As a father and son team, the fatigue and stress of travel took its toll over the decades of driving.
He knew the business wouldn’t reach its true potential unless the travel side of things became more efficient.
Will soon became familiar with chartering aircraft through his network in an attempt to eliminate long drives.
The time saving was profound, but it still felt disjointed, confusing and not having any jets based at his home airport ended up costing much more than he expected having to pay positioning fees.
Will reached out to us and signed up on the same day.
The biggest benefit of this program was Will didn’t have to pay the positioning fees, making private aviation far more cost effective for the business.
Prior to joining, Will’s day of travel from Regional VIC to Central QLD would take 2 commercial flights and 3 hours in the car.
We now safely get William and his team from A to B in 2 hours.
Sign-up fees are common with private jet programs in the United States, but the concept is less common or proven in Australia. This article helps explain what it is, why we have it in place, and how it enables our value-driven occupied hourly rate.
Our Access by Airlyprogram comes with an annual fee of $9,950 for two card holders.
For those who aren’t familiar with private, or perhaps have only chartered once or twice in the past, this can feel like quite a charge for no immediate product or service.
The reason the annual fee exists is to help smooth and flatten the fixed costs involved in operating, positioning, and making available six premium Cessna Citation Mustang jets for card holders. This enables us to deliver a consistent and low occupied hourly rate by reducing and removing unexpected operating costs caused by factors such as repositioning, holding, taxiing, and delays.
Additionally, the annual fee contributes to ensuring the highest quality service providers, operators, pilots, building an incredible team, and being able to update our platform on a regular basis.
So when real-world Access cardholder George was in the process of signing up, he also had some reservations about the annual fee. However, the fact that he was planning to fly 5-8 times a year made the cost savings compelling.
How soon did George make back his annual fee in savings?
Despite traveling mostly for business, George first utilised his Access by Airly card in taking his family to Byron Bay for a five-night holiday.
To charter, it would have cost him $20,500 return for a similar size jet.
Under Access by Airly, George paid $10,387 return, immediately saving him more than the annual fee he paid.
On average, our card holders make their annual fee back by the second or third trip – and that’s not including all the additional value the program provides outside of competitive flight pricing:
Six jets available to you on the east coast – no other provider can provide such coverage;
The most consumer-friendly booking, cancellation, and change terms;
Warren Buffet once famously said “Price is what you pay – value is what you get.”
Let’s apply this to Victoria’s travel options from Sydney to Thredbo, for herself and her two children, and compare ACCESS by Airly to both commercial and charter options from a value perspective.
ACCESS by Airly:
ACCESS by Airly: $9,950 annual fee (assume 10 flights per year): $995 amortised
Flight from Sydney Airport to Snowy Mountains (Cooma) Airport: $2,716 (whole aircraft)
Ground transfers from Rose Bay to Sydney Airport, and Cooma to Thredbo: $250
Total: $3,991 (including ACCESS annual fee)
Door to door trip time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Via commercial air travel, Victoria could choose to fly to Canberra:
Flight from Sydney Airport to Canberra: Between $208 and $450 per person ($624 – $1,350) economy, or $760 business class ($2,280)
Ground transfers from Rose Bay to Sydney Airport and Canberra to Thredbo: $800 (3 hours)
Total: Between $1,800 (economy) – $3,080 (business)
Door to door trip time: 5 hours
And a charter flight estimate:
Sydney to Snowy Mountains (Cooma) Airport in a Cessna Mustang: $6,835
Ground transfers from Rose Bay to Sydney Airport, and Cooma to Thredbo: $350
Total: $7,185
Door to door trip time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Overall, ACCESS by Airly’s value is compelling in terms of the time to price ratio, while the journey experience is without rival.
Like any parent, we always want the best for our children. We want to keep them safe, we want them to experience as much as possible.
And for Victoria, she would make the most of every Winter by driving her daughter to the snowfields several times during the snow season.
But with school and a busy personal schedule during the week, Victoria would leave late Friday driving five hours in low light and bad weather to ensure that come Saturday morning they could maximise their time on the slopes.
The long drives took its toll, so Victoria sought to find a way to maximise the time spent on the slopes without the dangers of driving at night for long hours.
Victoria explored the option of flying by private jet to save time, and make for a stress-free trip. However, paying over $15,000 for a weekend away just didn’t make sense.
Thankfully, via social media, Victoria came across ACCESS by Airly.
Through the program, Victoria could now fly from Sydney to Cooma in 35 minutes and jump on the waiting Mercedes van to whisk her and the family to Thredbo.
ACCESS by Airly reduced the travel time from 5 hours to just 90 minutes.
The process to book was simple, the experience was seamless and the price point was also far more palatable: under $3,000 each way.
ACCESS has had a profound impact on Victoria and her family’s life.
Simple and seamless A to B at a far more reasonable price point gave Victoria her life back and alleviated her stress when it came to travel.
