Leading executive charter brokers arguably offer the best overview of current market conditions because they deal with such a broad spread of operators from different geographical areas and market niches. Given the recent turbulence in financial markets, it was perhaps unsurprising that privately owned Hunt & Palmer was more candid in its assessment of business conditions than public company Air Partner.
According to Hunt & Palmer executive aviation manager Neil Harvey, the first three quarters this year did see an overall softening in demand for charter flights–especially during January, February and March. Bookings subsequently recovered quite markedly but he suggested to AIN that the next few months could provide critical indicators of the extent to which adverse business conditions have affected markets such as Europe and North America.
The past few years have seen a relentless boom in international charter markets, and to some extent brokers have always known that the growth would have to slow. The consensus among them is that growth will likely continue in the Middle East and Russia, and to a somewhat lesser extent in Asia, even if trading slows in Europe and North America.
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