Dubai: Private jet demand between UAE and India has taken a big hit after the UAE placed severe restrictions on chartered flights using these services.
It was last week that the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) warned operators selling seats individually on UAE-bound chartered flights from COVID-19 hotspots will be banned from flying in the country. When business aircraft are used to transport passengers from restricted destinations, they shall not be pooled or sold per seat,” said the regulator in the circular. “Operators hired for pooling or ‘per seat offer’ may be banned from operation in the UAE”
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Dubai: Demand for private jets on the India-UAE routes has once again seen a boost after the temporary suspension on commercial flights from India.
And as had happened during the repatriation flights last year, private jets are not just being deployed for India’s wealthy. Some business travelers are pooling their resources to charter these jets and make the trip to the UAE.
Oliver Hewson, founder of Jet83 Advisory, expects private jet trips between the two countries to rise as businessmen’s charter flights are exempt from the ban. “It might not appear “fair”, but the typical passenger flying private contribute a huge amount to the economies of the destinations they visit,” he said. “And the success of their businesses affects the employment of thousands of people.”
Lola Seaton’s piece on Mark Fisher (The Critics, 22 January) was wonderfully thorough and moving. It managed to articulate, much like Fisher did, the ineffable sense of loss that typifies this late strain of capitalism. This was heightened by Seaton’s poignant references to the human loss that Fisher’s friends expressed at his memorial. With such glowing appraisals of his affecting work and deep sense of purpose, it is little wonder that there is clamour for more of his writing among such a lost generation. I can’t help but feel galvanised when I read Fisher’s work – Seaton’s piece evoked similar feelings, and not merely through association. I hope that in the aftermath of this collective crisis we can mobilise some of the consciousness we’ve lost and so desperately need. The alternative – a return to an acquiescent “normality” – risks setting us back yet another generation, and yet another crisis.