Hong Kong-based Global Wings Aviation Holding Co, a startup business jet company founded around February 2015, launched a shared business jet app on Friday, becoming the first domestic company to exploit this market.
Customers who want to order a flight by a shared business jet can make the reservation via the app, and Global Wings will dispatch relevant planes according to total number of the passengers for each trip, said Zhang Hongchao, president of the company.
Global Wings can dispatch as many as 1,500 business jets from different countries in the world, Zhang told the Global Times on Friday.
According to Zhang, shared business jet is a completely new business concept in China, or even in Asia. "In the past, business jets are usually chartered, as privacy is one of the major advantages business jets have over ordinary planes," Zhang said.
However, Zhang said that clients might change their mindset about privacy in the future. "Shared business jets provide the same level of services as chartered business jets do with a much cheaper price. Also, passengers are able to make new acquaintances during the flight, which might bring new possibilities to their lives," he said.
Global Wings has conducted an investigation on people's acceptable degree of shared business jets, and of the 1000 respondents, about 65 percent said they were willing to try flights on a shared business jet, according to Zhang.
However, Zhang said that the cost of running the business is also high at about 20 million yuan ($3.1 billion) annually. "We hope to achieve a balanced budget in one year's time," he said.
So far, Global Wings provides 121 flights between 11 destinations, including Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul and Tokyo.
