This undated photo shows Vista Global Founder and Chairman Thomas Flohr. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Commercial air traffic dived to a historic low due to the COVID-19 pandemic public, and airlines, especially those focused on corporate travel, were forced into a structural shift.

For business aviation operators, the shock of the pandemic has opened up new opportunities in the high-yielding market.

Vista Global Holding, the world’s biggest on-demand private aviation group by hours flown, has forged ahead with an industry-changing membership and subscription business model. 

It operates the market-leading VistaJet and XO brands and is continuing to build scale, securing the path to further growth. Earlier this year, the company announced the acquisition of private-jet operator Air Hamburg, Europe’s largest based on flights.

There was a massive shift of ownership of business aircraft to the subscription membership model. Corporations, or ultrahigh networth individuals, do not want to spend $20 million, $30 million, $50 million anymore, or go to a board to get approval. They just want to change from a capex situation to an opex situation.

Thomas Flohr, founder and chairman of Vista Global

Vista Global Founder and Chairman Thomas Flohr told China Daily Hong Kong from Switzerland that a few factors accelerated the evolution of business aviation in the pandemic era.

“There was a massive shift of ownership of business aircraft to the subscription membership model. Corporations, or ultrahigh networth individuals, do not want to spend $20 million, $30 million, $50 million anymore, or go to a board to get approval. They just want to change from a capex situation to an opex situation,” Flohr said.

He said this is very much in line with the shared-economy concept in many other industries. 

“It is the concept of experience, rather than owning things. The membership and transaction model makes this easier,” Flohr said.

“You just buy the hours you need and start flying. That is a very big underlying trend. We see a very big shift from commercial to private aviation as well, partly due to COVID-19.

Flohr points out that there are 22,000 corporate jets in the market.

“VistaJet has built up over 200 aircraft. This is the true sense of a shared economy. We have 200 airplanes available to thousands of customers so they can share this one infrastructure. It is so much more efficient and so much more cost-effective per hour,” he said.

Wealthy sports stars are on board. World No 1 golfer and US Open winner Jon Rahm became a VistaJet member and brand ambassador in January. Phil Mickelson, a three-times Masters winner, is also a member.

VistaJet also offers exclusive trips to destinations such as Jamaica; the Bahamas; the Dolder Grand in Switzerland; Ithaafushi, a private island in the Maldives; Rosewood Hong Kong; Temple House in Chengdu; and The Peninsula, Shanghai, among others.

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Vista Global has added value to its fleet with aircraft including the Bombardier Global 7500, a 14-seater, with a private bedroom and a comfortable, permanent double bed. VistaJet introduced seven in 2021, and will add seven more this year.

Vista Global’s Asia business has picked up and VistaJet and XO fleets added more than 30 aircraft in 2021.

“We see continued fleet expansion, taking us to about 250 airplanes by year-end,” Flohr said.

“New members of VistaJet are up by 75 percent year-on-year globally. Incredible numbers. In 2021, VistaJet sold 22,000 new annual subscription hours. This number is up by 92 percent, over 2020. We nearly doubled from pre-pandemic. These are really strong numbers.”

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VistaJet clients increased by 26 percent in 2021 from the year before and new VistaJet program memberships signed were up by 75 percent in 2021, year-on-year. VistaJet on-demand growth was higher by 11 percent in 2021 from 2020.

Vista Global has made a number of acquisitions, so far, including Red Wing Aviation in 2020, and Apollo Jets in 2021. According to VistaJet, it is the only operator that can fly nonstop from New York to Hong Kong.