by Telegraph Luxury Travel Editor and John O'Ceallaigh, June 23, 2017
Consumers long used to the Netflix and Spotify's ‘all you can eat’ subscription model can now enjoy unlimited private-jet travel, with Surf Air offering its customers as many flights as they like for £1,750 a month. Just shy of £58 a day, the fee provides membership to Surf Air’s European flight network, which has officially launched today and which offers flights from London Luton to a handful of destinations including Cannes, Zurich, Geneva and Milan. Many more are expected to launch over the coming months.
Having paid their subscription fee, clients who book flights online - a process that takes just 30 seconds, says Surf Air - can travel as often as they wish to any of the destinations within their network. It will be possible to check in up to 15 minutes before take-off and they will fly on Embraer Phenom 300 executive jets and Swiss-made Pilatus PC-12 aircraft; there will be a maximum of eight clients per flight. Interiors will be equipped with USB plugs and work counters should passengers need to prepare for a meeting, but the planes themselves will likely serve as spontaneous networking stations too.
Surf Air was founded in the US in 2013 and already services 17 American destinations from its California and Texas hubs. The company’s European CEO Simon Talling-Smith says: "Surf Air offers a smarter, better alternative to commercial travel. Our streamlined service means no queues, no tickets and no stress. We focus our efforts on making each flying experience as simple and effortless as possible.”
Surf Air’s arrival in Europe follows the launch in this region of JetSmarter. An app-based platform described as ‘the Uber of private jets’, it is backed by investors such as Jay Z and the Saudi royal family and offers instant pricing and availability for flights worldwide, allowing its users to charter private jets immediately. As with Surf Air, membership options allow unlimited flights on its private-jet shuttle service for a set fee.
Established European JetSmarter shuttle routes include London to Paris, Nice and Geneva, while customers departing from London will also be able to fly to Ibiza, Moscow and Milan from this summer onwards. JetSmarter expects to operate flights between 150 European cities within the next two years. Membership costs $15,000 per year and unlimited flights, globally, of under three hours’ duration are included in that tariff. Longer flights are subject to individual surcharges ranging from between $200 to $3,000 dependent on flight length and demand.
Frequent fliers who don’t wish to commit to that might instead like to enter the Telegraph Travel Awards, which this year is offering as one of its prizes a year of JetSmarter private-jet flights worth £33,000. Unexpectedly, easyJet has also partnered with private-jet logistics company Signature Flight Support to offer its passengers access to London Luton’s private-jet terminal. For a fee of £475 (and an additional £120 for each subsequent passenger on the same booking), easyJet passengers departing from or landing at Luton will be able to use the private terminal as part of their flight experience.
Private jets' incredible interiors
This article was written by Telegraph Luxury Travel Editor and John O'Ceallaigh from The Telegraph and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to [email protected].