At the inaugural Business Aviation Asia Forum and Expo, Sino Jet founder and president Jenny Lau praised the new event this week at Singapore’s Changi Exhibition Centre. “I think it’s a good start,” she said. “After ABACE [ended in 2019], we haven’t had a proper show [in Asia]. The industry still needs professionals to meet and see each other so we can create more business opportunities and share collaborative ideas.”

Lau has noticed a demographic shift in the business aviation customer base in Asia, with more young new entrants and a shift from traditional business owners to people involved in high-tech industries. “They’re more comfortable to travel on business jets, they like to travel in big groups, and they’re more actively doing business overseas,” she told AIN.

Younger buyers also tend to prefer chartering to owning aircraft and they are also moving away from China so Sino Jet has set up offices and staff to support customers elsewhere, including in Dubai and Zurich. “Clients like us having a local presence,” Lau said. “Our model is to serve Chinese clients where they are.” In addition to its core charter-management business, which is headquartered in Beijing, Sino Jet has expanded with FBOs in Macau, Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Nanchang as well as MRO services.

Because of the growing demand for charter and the fact that many airplanes that used to be available for charter in China were sold during the pandemic, there is a shortage of viable aircraft. According to Lau, the demand is still there so Sino Jet has purchased some airplanes to fill that need, including a Gulfstream G550. The company’s fleet totals 42 aircraft, 80% of which are based in China, with the rest in Japan, Singapore, Europe, and North America.

“Operators like us don’t make much profit on local charter so we tend to buy long-range jets to meet demand,” Lau said.

China's Low-altitude Economy

China’s government has made a commitment to promote and develop low-altitude aviation, and Sino Jet is placing a big bet on that market segment with an order for 100 Aerofugia AE200 eVTOL aircraft. “China is very hot on developing the low-altitude economy,” Lau said. “This is a game-changing plan for the country. Our customers are interested.” Sino Jet anticipates demand from government users for local trips from the airport to downtown and humanitarian and medevac uses.

Like most aviation businesses, Sino Jet has been facing challenges finding qualified new hires, “Everyone is having that problem,” Lau said. Not only does she look for people with problem-solving skills but with offices all over the world, language skills are essential. “They have to have a strong service mindset,” she said. “It doesn’t come easy. There are a lot of challenges to place people in the right accounts."

For now, the Southeast Asia market is one of the main priorities for Sino Jet. “We see huge growth potential because of the capital inflow to Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and India,” Lau concluded.