VistaJet Group Holding, one of the world’s biggest private jet firms, is courting Kenya's rich business travellers seeking to fly from one country to another while hosting board meetings on air.
Kenya's ultra-wealthy spare no expense to travel in style and comfort even if it means purchasing their own aircraft.
A few entrepreneurs, corporate titans and politicians own planes, but a majority are small; fixed-wing planes and helicopters which have limitations including the limited flight range by hours and the requirement of permits to fly across borders and territories.
Filling the gap
This is the gap that aircraft charters such as the Malta-headquartered VistaJet seek to fill by providing long-haul and intercontinental flights.
In 2022, VistaJet began, for the first time since its founding in 2004, to put some of its global fleet in Africa in response to demand for private jet services.
The aviator added three more planes last year and now plans to increase the number operating in the region. Last month, the private airline company put its Bombardier Global 7500 private jet on showcase at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport as it scouted and teased Kenya's wealthy.
The plane on display was the largest long-range craft on offer by the company allowing up to 17 hours of non-stop flying and features a large cabin with four separate living spaces, including a permanent stateroom- a bedroom on the plane.
Inside the Vistajet Bombardier Global 7500.
Photo credit: Billy Ogada | Nation Media Group
Promising hub
Philippe Scalabrini, VistaJet’s Europe and Africa President kept his cards close on who makes up some of his clients from Kenya but sees Nairobi as a promising hub for the firm which is expanding its operations in Africa.
“Our decision to be here is because we see demand. We know how dynamic the market can be, so we see the potential. Clearly, Nairobi for us is an important hub,” he said.
“We have seen a two-fold increase in new programme hours flown in Kenya in the first half of 2024 versus the first half of 2023,” he added.
The airline sees potential for more clients based on ongoing economic development and foreign investments coming into Africa from Asia, the Middle East and the US.
Philippe Scalabrini, VistJet President for Europe and Africa during the interview onboard the Bombardier Global 7500 (right) on November 18, 2024 at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
Photo credit: Billy Ogada | Nation Media Group
VistaJet, which marked its 20th anniversary this year, and whose adjusted earnings dropped by roughly five percent last year as its debts mounted, according to Bloomberg, sees itself as a private jet airline that is more responsive to business needs than luxury travel.
A successful entrepreneur can, for instance, fly on the jet from Nairobi to New York and detour to Singapore on the way back with ease.
Its 240 fleet which is identical plays to the appeal of ultra-wealthy customers who value privacy when pursuing deals.
In one of the cabin’s partitioning, clients can convert the area to a boardroom in the air, complete with internet connectivity, allowing one to conduct business discussions, a contrast to flying commercial.
“It’s a lot more efficient to fly a certain number of hours with us than to invest millions of dollars in new aircraft. In aircraft ownership, you can buy the wrong aircraft because you might have 80 percent of short-range needs and 20 percent of long-range needs. Which plane do you buy? With us, clients can choose the right aircraft for the right mission,” said Mr Scalabrini.
The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA), the regulator of the aviation industry has no recent data on authorised private jet firms but other players in the private jets industry include Paramount Business Jets and the Air Charter Service, eyeing a growing list of ultra-wealthy individuals in Kenya and Africa.
7,200-dollar millionaires
Kenya has about 7,200-dollar millionaires according to a report by Henley & Partners published in May this year.
Oxfam International- a charity organisation expects the number of dollar millionaires to grow rapidly over the next 10 years with 7,500 new dollar millionaires expected to be minted in the next decade.
The number of dollar millionaires in the country nevertheless hit a bump last year on the exchange rate depreciation.
Kenya has the fourth largest number of dollar millionaires (people with net worths of at least Sh129.49 million each), after South Africa, Egypt and Nigeria.
