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Wealth from AI and cryptocurrencies is creating a younger generation of private jet owners, the boss of Flexjet said.
The group, which allows people to take partial ownership of large luxury private jets, said it now had owners who were in their twenties.
“Our average age has dropped 10 years,” chief executive Andrew Collins told the FT. “I can see right now a significant impact from AI already, in terms of AI wealth.”
“You’re seeing technology really drive a lot of wealth. Crypto is a piece of that . . . [and] we have owners now in the [United] States who are part of the AI movement.”
He said “watershed moments” such as the $75bn SpaceX IPO meant more people had wealth they were willing to spend on experiences such as private travel.
“The IPO market is three times where it was last year,” he said and still “running at full steam”. Although the business had not experienced an influx of people made wealthy by the SpaceX listing, he expected it would, once lock-up periods ended.
The number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals had risen by almost a third in the past two years, he said, propelled by booming markets and new sources of money such as technology.
The company is expanding, having ordered 50 new jets to take its fleet to 390 by the end of the year, and will purchase more aircraft if it can get its hands on them.
The group is privately owned by founder Kenn Ricci and some of the management through a holding company, but with investors that include LVMH’s investment arm L Catterton, which led an $800mn funding round last year.
Flexjet will open a dedicated private jet terminal in Farnborough in September, which will be the largest facility in Europe dedicated to a single private operator and the company’s largest terminal in the world.
While some jet chartering companies have warned about the impact of rising costs of jet fuel on customer demand, Collins said that ownership had not experienced any dent. The costs, which have roughly doubled, have passed through to customers and had “no impact” on appetite.
One feature the company did notice was a boom in travel at the start of the Iran conflict, as warnings of impending jet fuel shortages spurred travellers to take trips earlier than planned, with the Greek islands and Nice proving particularly popular destinations.
“It was more anecdotal, but we felt like this could be people saying they want to get some travel in now because . . . there was a lot of talk about fuel running out.”
The company on Wednesday announced a new partnership with Formula 1, under which it will provide executive travel for the sport, including for drivers, and will provide experiences for its customers at the races, including at this coming weekend’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone. It already has partnership deals with Ferretti yachts and LVMH.
Collins said there was a “Venn diagram” of people who attended events such as Royal Ascot and who flew into Silverstone, whom the company considered potential customers.
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