Hunt & Palmer Looks To India For Growth
Air charter broker Hunt & Palmer is looking to its operation in India for future growth as the country shows an increase in the number of private jets purchased, and a rise in demand for private air charter.
Domestic air fares rose in India by 18 per cent in the last three months of 2011* and commercial airlines face uncertain times with a lull in the number of flights booked both nationally and internationally. Hunt & Palmer, who has an office in New Delhi, is looking to gain from the growing interest in air charter in the region, as European air charter business is set to remain stagnant over the coming year.
Many of the private jets in India are currently owned by businesses and are used to jet executives around the country and abroad, it’s estimated there are around 140 private jets based in India. Due to the sheer expanse of the country executives have come to prefer the convenience that air charter provides particularly to reach the regions with limited transport infrastructure.
In addition, according to recent forecasts, the Indian Mice market is expected to grow by 10-15 percent in 2012 with Germany, the UK and France topping the destination favourites. Its estimated that more than 1.5 million passengers travelled outbound for meetings and conventions last year.
Jamie Martin, Director, Hunt & Palmer commented:
“Our operations in Asia have performed well over the past year. The trends show that India is beginning to show a slow but definite growth and interest in air charter, particularly private jet charter, not just from the country’s growing number of millionaires but also corporate executives who have a growing need to visit offices and factories across India.
“The opportunities in India are rising and as we already have an office established in New Delhi so we have a head start in exploiting these prospects as well as providing UK and European business travellers access to private charter services in the region.”
*H American Express Business Travel Monitor