Political change, civil unrest, natural disasters an travel
distruption often means chartering a private flight is the fastest (and often
only) way to leave a region quickly and safely.
Here's our guide to
evacuation flights:
1. Be Prepared and Act Early - Leave ASA
"If
in doubt, get out" has been the international community advice. With airlines over-booking and cancelling
flights at short notice, you cannot be assured that a reservation will
guarantee travel. The earlier you make the decision to leave the higher
the probability you will be successful.
2. Use Regional Airports - Avoid the crowds
Often
it is a country's main international airport that gets closed first and the
smaller regional airports are usually kept open for longer. Most airlines will be already committed to
using the main international airport, so not only will the main hubs be
extremely incredibly busy but travelling to them by road will likely involve
substantial delays. Private jet charters
have a proven agility during travel disruption, utilising many more airports
than airlines and can use smaller regional airports with shorter runways
whenever possible.
3. Reduce cost - Fly to the
nearest safe country
The cost of flying home by private jet can be
substantially more than evacuating to the nearest safe country. For example from Cairo fly to Cyprus and from
Tripoli you can transfer to Malta - both of these can vastly reduce the cost of
the evacuation. From these 'safe hubs' you should then find it easier to
make onward travel arrangements to get home by regular scheduled airline.
4. Documentation - Scan and save online
Obtaining
flight permits can be delayed if passenger information is not complete or
supplied in full at the time of application.
Having passports, corporate IDs and medical documentation pre-scanned
and online is advisable.
You may also find it useful to have left
copies of these documents or have pre-sent instructions for access to
representatives outside of the country, as internet access can become
restrictive or may not be available from within the region.
5. Group together - Fill the Seats
When
chartering an aircraft you pay for the whole aircraft and not per passenger, so
it becomes a more affordable prospect to share the costs with other
evacuees.
In situations of travel disruption such as evacuations, places such as the hotel lobby can be a focal point to find fellow passengers who may wish to share the price of the charter for a spare seat on your aircraft.
In situations of travel disruption such as evacuations, places such as the hotel lobby can be a focal point to find fellow passengers who may wish to share the price of the charter for a spare seat on your aircraft.
