Chad is the editor of AINalerts, AIN's daily business aviation newsletter, and is also the news editor at AIN Media Group.&nbsp;He has been writing about aviation, with an emphasis on business aviation, since 1994. Chad started his writing career at The Avion,&nbsp;the&nbsp;student newspaper at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, serving as editor-in-chief before graduating with a bachelor's in aeronautical science. After a stint as managing editor at Professional Pilot&nbsp;magazine, he joined&nbsp;AIN in late 1998. Chad holds a commercial pilot certificated with instrument and multi-engine ratings, and he also is a CFI/CFII. He lives and works from his home in Venice, Florida.

Online Editor

Chad Trautvetter

A double-whammy of an anti-luxury sentiment and illegal, or “gray market,” charter is decimating legitimate air charter operators in China. The former has put a “large dent” in charter activity in China, while the former is stealing anywhere from 25- to 50-percent of charter business from legal operators, according to Asian Sky Group managing director Jeffrey Lowe.

 


This has caused a “tremendous overcapacity in charter aircraft,” with one unidentified Chinese charter operator’s business being down 40- to 50 percent, he said. The environment has led to operators competing on price or shifting aircraft formerly devoted to charter to short-term leases, Lowe told AIN at this week's ABACE show in Shanghai. Operators that have cultivated private clientele have fared better than those relying more on government charter business, however.

 


“Government charter is slowly trickling back, but it will be a long time before it is anywhere near what it was before,” according to Lowe. However, there’s an upside for potential charter customers–“It’s a buyer’s market at the moment,” he said. But with some operators offering very low charter rates, “We look at the numbers and say, ‘I don’t know how they’re making money.’”

 


Meanwhile, cheap, but illegal, charter is plaguing the industry. The so-called gray market charter typically occurs when “business aircraft owners let friends or acquaintances rent their airplanes for flights, typically just for the cost of fuel,” said Lowe.

 


“Private owners don’t have to meet the same operating standards that are imposed on companies that provide charter services for hire,” he said, “so gray market charter subjects travelers to lower safety standards while depriving legitimate operators of revenue needed to pay for the enhanced services they offer.” At some point, the Civil Aviation Administration of China will have to step in and try to stop the illegal activity, he concluded.

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