SINGAPORE: The private plane marketplace in Singapore has taken off, surpassing levels seen before the COVID-19 crisis, with business insiders citing the government’s business gateway status as a key driver of such growth.
According to non-public information that New York-based Alton Aviation Consultancy shared with CNA, the need for private flight vacation in Singapore has increased by about 30 % from pre-COVID levels. Business flight departures from Changi and Seletar flights alone are the highest number.  ,
The information compares information from the 2024 calendar year to the 2019 one.
According to most recently applicable information from the consulting business Asian Sky Group, the number of private jet based in Singapore increased from 66 at the end of 2022 to 74 at the end of 2023.  ,
In contrast, there were 45 jet based in Malaysia, 56 in Indonesia and 41 in Thailand at the end of 2023.
According to Asian Sky’s media and publications producer Alud Davies, the firm views an aircraft as having a base if its most lively flying location occurs at that airport.
Although it is unknown how many ascents and crossings private jets have in Singapore, Mr. Davies said his staff keeps an eye on aircraft entering and leaving the area.
Our team of researchers “has a good understanding of what plane are based where,” he claimed.  ,
Personal jet can either be owned by individuals or chartered out to customers by charter companies for business, health, or leisure purposes.  ,
In Singapore, five aircraft charter companies CNA spoke to even reported growing demand. Despite the fact that the majority of the companies acknowledged that journey actions slowed slightly in 2024, some of them have grown their fleets.
The secret market was” tremendously bigger than before COVID,” according to Air Charter Service’s Singapore office, with significant growth over the past three decades.  ,
In 2024, according to its director for private planes, Brendan Toomey, the company conducted 35 % more flights in and out of Singapore than it did in 2021. There was also a “huge wave” in aviation laws in 2022 and 2023 due to the post-COVID go boom.
Mr. Toomey added that the company then offers” a little more option” for customers with over 40 % more charter aircraft than it did in 2021.
Flights and crossings in Singapore increased by more than 50 % between 2022 and 2023, according to personal aircraft management and contract firm TAG Aviation Asia.
Flight hours increased by 44 % between 2022 and 2023, according to private jet charter company VistaJet, which saw growth of 31 % between 2022 and 2023 for flights to and from Singapore.
In a more unexpected way, the Amber Aviation company reported a 77 % increase in the number of airlines arriving and departing from Singapore in 2023, as opposed to 2022.  ,
Air 7 Asia, an aeroplane management company, purchased a aircraft at Seletar Airport in 2023 to keep its fleet of seven aircraft running, away from its current fleet of just one, which was only one four years ago.
Singapore’s business aviation Asia Forum and Expo, which will feature a stable show of private jet in March, is set to take place at the country’s first always Business Aviation Asia Forum and Expo in Changi Exhibition Centre.  ,
Business aviation refers to private jet or other non-commercial civil aircraft that are used to transport people or groups for company purposes.  ,
Mr Leck Chet Lam, managing chairman of event planner Experia Activities, said Singapore was the “perfect place” for the exhibition, with the growth of the business aircraft industry in Asia-Pacific.
The area is the third-largest business for business aircraft globe, trailing North America and Europe.
” We are right smack in the middle”, said Mr Leck. ” You can use us as a platform to capture opportunities in a growing Asia-Pacific market” . ,