Traveling by private jet might be making a comeback in Richmond.
In 2010, 663 companies flew out of Richmond International Airport at least once, including such for-hire charter services as Martin Air and Million Air.
That’s a 20 percent bump from last year, according to flight data recently compiled by the Wall Street Journal. The Journal collected private flight data from 2007-10 and turned it into a searchable database.
Gene McDonough, president of Million Air, said that companies are starting to open up a bit when it comes to chartering planes.
“People have frugality fever. They are tired of not spending money and tired of hunkering down,” McDonough said. “They are anxious to get back to the way things used to be.”
Still, McDonough said that the improvement has been slight and gradual.
“Every month has been ahead of the same month last year, but it’s still not enough to sit back in the chair and relax,” McDonough said.
The data show that the top 10 most frequent fliers out of RIC made more trips in 2010 than they had during the previous few years. Aside from the charter companies previously mentioned, the list includes Dominion Resources, Altria, Dupont and CarMax.
The top 10 corporate fliers combined for 1,842 trips out of RIC last year, a 50 percent increase over 2009.
Martin Air flew out of RIC the most with 607 flights, compared with 533 in 2009.
Alec Kempe, president of Martin Air, said that although last year was an improvement over the recession years, the return of corporate travel has not been as strong as he had hoped.
“Frankly, I would have expected things to be much better than they are,” Kempe said.
“Overall demand, I would describe as weak. It is better than it was but not nearly back to what it was pre-recession,” Kempe said.
Coming behind Martin Air in total departures from Richmond was Dominion Resources, which took 442 flights last year compared with 140 in 2009.
Million Air was third with 239 departures out of Richmond, compared with 175 in 2009.
Although the most frequent fliers flew more last year, overall private traffic in and out of the airport remained flat from 2009 to 2010, according to statistics provided by RIC spokesperson Troy Bell.
But numbers this year show that private aircraft traffic is picking up significantly.
“It’s up 13 percent for the first five months,” Bell said. “That is a pretty nice job.”
Below is a list of the top 10 frequent fliers out of Richmond for 2010, taken from the Journal’s jet tracker:
Martin Air: 607
Dominion Resources Services: 442
Million Air: 239
Altria Client Services: 116
Starwood Industries Inc: 104
SunTrust Banks Inc: 93
Dupont Aviation: 90
Carmax Auto Superstores: 84
Dominion Aviation Services: 67
Southern States Cooperative Inc: 66
Traveling by private jet might be making a comeback in Richmond.
In 2010, 663 companies flew out of Richmond International Airport at least once, including such for-hire charter services as Martin Air and Million Air.
That’s a 20 percent bump from last year, according to flight data recently compiled by the Wall Street Journal. The Journal collected private flight data from 2007-10 and turned it into a searchable database.
Gene McDonough, president of Million Air, said that companies are starting to open up a bit when it comes to chartering planes.
“People have frugality fever. They are tired of not spending money and tired of hunkering down,” McDonough said. “They are anxious to get back to the way things used to be.”
Still, McDonough said that the improvement has been slight and gradual.
“Every month has been ahead of the same month last year, but it’s still not enough to sit back in the chair and relax,” McDonough said.
The data show that the top 10 most frequent fliers out of RIC made more trips in 2010 than they had during the previous few years. Aside from the charter companies previously mentioned, the list includes Dominion Resources, Altria, Dupont and CarMax.
The top 10 corporate fliers combined for 1,842 trips out of RIC last year, a 50 percent increase over 2009.
Martin Air flew out of RIC the most with 607 flights, compared with 533 in 2009.
Alec Kempe, president of Martin Air, said that although last year was an improvement over the recession years, the return of corporate travel has not been as strong as he had hoped.
“Frankly, I would have expected things to be much better than they are,” Kempe said.
“Overall demand, I would describe as weak. It is better than it was but not nearly back to what it was pre-recession,” Kempe said.
Coming behind Martin Air in total departures from Richmond was Dominion Resources, which took 442 flights last year compared with 140 in 2009.
Million Air was third with 239 departures out of Richmond, compared with 175 in 2009.
Although the most frequent fliers flew more last year, overall private traffic in and out of the airport remained flat from 2009 to 2010, according to statistics provided by RIC spokesperson Troy Bell.
But numbers this year show that private aircraft traffic is picking up significantly.
“It’s up 13 percent for the first five months,” Bell said. “That is a pretty nice job.”
Below is a list of the top 10 frequent fliers out of Richmond for 2010, taken from the Journal’s jet tracker:
Martin Air: 607
Dominion Resources Services: 442
Million Air: 239
Altria Client Services: 116
Starwood Industries Inc: 104
SunTrust Banks Inc: 93
Dupont Aviation: 90
Carmax Auto Superstores: 84
Dominion Aviation Services: 67
Southern States Cooperative Inc: 66
“Overall demand, I would describe as weak. It is better than it was but not nearly back to what it was pre-recession,” Kempe said.
All that ends if El Jefe manages to increase taxes on corporations and those who’ve been so unthoughtful and arrogant as to be successful in life. That ends, along with jobs at Million Air and Martin Air, at companies who make their jets, and at companies all over America that make the products those evil rich people use.
America doesn’t have a revenue problem. We have a Congress problem.
With the cost of flying commercial out of Richmond, the private option becomes more sensible. Hey, It costs over $1,000 to fly from here to Allentown, PA. Unless you want to go through Orlando, then it’s only $935.
“With the cost of flying commercial out of Richmond, the private option becomes more sensible.”
I agree… Prices for the most basic flights to the most basic domestic destinations tend to be ludicrous. Time and again I look for alternatives, including not travelling at all. $1,000 to fly to Cleveland is ridiculous. And yes, you can do it cheaper if you’re willing to take a 5am flight to Charlotte, Atlanta, or Chicago first.