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 engines. ...

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

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 A civil aviation authority (CAA) is a national or supranational statutory authority that oversees the regulation of civil aviation, including the maintenance of an aircraft register. Role Due to the inherent dangers in the use of flight vehicles ...

. 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 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 – 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 An online marketplace (or online e-commerce marketplace) is a type of e-commerce website where product or service information is provided by multiple third parties. Online marketplaces are the primary type of multichannel ecommerce and can be a wa ...

– 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, DHC-3 Otter * Turbo props – examples:

Pilatus PC-12 The Pilatus PC-12 is a pressurized, single-engined, turboprop aircraft, manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Stans, Switzerland, since 1991. It was designed as a high-performance utility aircraft that incorporates a large aft cargo door in add ...

King Air 350 The Beechcraft Super King Air family is part of a line of twin- turboprop aircraft produced by Beechcraft. The Model 200 and Model 300 series were originally marketed as the "Super King Air" family; the "Super" designation was dropped in 19 ...

, Piaggio P-180 Avanti * Light jets – examples: Phenom 300, Citation CJ3 * Mid-cabin jets – examples: Learjet 60, 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 Boeing Business Jets (BBJ) are versions of Boeing's jet airliners with modifications to serve the private, head of state and corporate jet market. In 1996, Phil Condit, president of The Boeing Company, and Jack Welch, chairman and CEO of Gener ...

, Airbus Corporate Jets 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