09/06/2026

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Private jet market defies Iran war gloom

PARIS: As soaring jet fuel prices triggered by the Iran war send ripples across the global travel market, a wealthy elite of CEOs, celebrities and sports stars is flying by private jet in greater numbers than ever before, to glitzy events from the Monaco Grand Prix to the Cannes film festival. The phenomenon is another sign of the so called “K-shaped” economy that is showing up across consumer markets from luxury to dining, industry watchers say, as high-income travellers spend more while middle- and lower-income groups tighten their belts, with budget carriers in particular feeling the squeeze. Jet fuel costs have roughly doubled since the start of the war in late February, forcing global airlines to cancel flights and raise ticket prices, while missile and drone strikes around the Gulf have seen flights almost halve in a region that was a global connection hub. “The world is in turmoil, but not our passengers,” Deniz Weissenborn, owner of Platoon Aviation, which charters eight-seat jets, told Reuters, explaining that its clients are wealthy enough to absorb higher prices. “If you fly in a private jet, I don’t think you’re bothered by an increase of 1,000 or 2,000 euros.” According to aviation data firm WINGX, the number of private flights has increased by about 4% globally so far this year, adding thousands of trips. In the same period, overall global capacity has fallen 3-4%, data from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows. Private jet pilots and executives told Reuters that charter jet services are seeing an uptick in bookings as wealthy travellers turn away from premium, business and first class in an effort to dodge the risk of commercial flight cancellations and airport disruption due to the conflict. Amalfi Jets founder and CEO Kolin Jones said there had been around a quarter more requests for Cannes this year compared to last, while those for Sunday’s Monaco GP were up almost a third, as people switched up from commercial flights. “Lots who could afford it but flew commercial are now happy to pay more for the safer option,” Jones said. “Cannes Film Festival, Monaco Grand Prix, and World Cup-related travel from Europe to the US are driving demand.” Eight private jet executives said that while private traffic to the Middle East had dipped given airspace safety concerns, demand for travel to Europe and the United States was likely to approach record levels this year. “It is as busy as ever,” said Andy Spencer, a private jet pilot who has flown routes in the Middle East and Asia. During early February’s US Super Bowl in California, private traffic at nearby airports was three times that of a normal day, WINGX said. For April’s Masters Golf Tournament in

o Executives see demand rising, say wealthy clients absorb costs

Private jets are parked on the tarmac of the Nice Cote d’Azur international airport, the closest airport to Monaco during the Formula One weekend, in Nice, France. – REUTERSPIC

that well-heeled individuals were simply looking for more security in uncertain times. “Every time there are world events, private aviation gets a little bit of a bump, every single time,” said Jason Middleton, owner of Silver Air Private Jets, citing the Iran war, the Covid pandemic and unrest in South America. “It’s like a safety thing ... People feel safe when they have control.” – Reuters

climate groups and campaigners, who say their use underscores global inequality, is a threat to the environment and that regulation of the sector is too lax. A spokesperson for the European Business Aviation Association said the sector played an important role in Europe’s connectivity and criticism was overly simplistic, while manufacturers and charter operators added

Augusta, private traffic was 10 times more than normal, jumping from fewer than 50 flights to more than 400. “Our customers’ flight hours continue to hit record highs month after month,” private jet maker Embraer’s CEO Francisco Gomes Neto told Reuters at an executive aviation airshow in May in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Private jets have come in for criticism from

SpaceX IPO jolts life back into European retail investing LONDON: European retail investors are among those jockeying for a piece of the hotly anticipated SpaceX initial public offering, but some observers warn the deal could prove a bumpy ride for those without the resources that institutional investors have behind them. to the European Union, a figure dwarfed by the 43% in the United States. Meziane Lasfer, Professor of Finance at Bayes Business School in London, said that while institutional investors have databases and financial analysts to help them determine the true value of a company, retail investors would be taking a “very big risk”.

involved said it was encouraging that everyday investors were getting early access to an IPO rather than only being able to buy shares in the secondary market. eToro said in a press release that the minimum application on its platform was US$750, while Hargreaves Lansdown is asking for £1,000 (RM5,434). BNP Paribas’ El Harrar said that retail participation in IPOs is a new obsession for technology companies that have shifted from maybe having at most 15% of their order book placed with such investors, to double that. While there has been a regulatory push in the UK to make it easier for retail investors to buy into IPOs, there has been a dearth of deals to choose from amid a global slowdown in new listings. Of the 15 largest UK IPOs in 2021, only one included a retail tranche, according to Coombes. That was Deliveroo, which offered retail investors a 50 million pound slice of its £1.5 billion IPO via PrimaryBid. The stock plunged as much as 30% on its first day of trading. – Reuters

Three academics and one consumer rights advocate advised caution due to the lofty US$1.75 trillion valuation of the loss-making SpaceX, while the small float size of less than 5% and a lack of voting rights could pose risks. SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment. Its founder and leader Elon Musk said last week that he felt “pretty good” about the company’s revenue projections and that revenue had become “much more predictable”. Opinion on investment forums and platforms like Reddit is mixed, with some enthusiastic and others put off by the high valuation or Musk’s leadership. Hargreaves Lansdown said 35,000 of its clients had registered an interest in IPO alerts since SpaceX’s offer was first rumoured in April. Revolut’s dedicated webpage for the share sale in Britain aimed at signing up new customers features a full-page video of a SpaceX rocket lifting off before outlining risks including that applicants may not receive any shares at all.

“It is a company that is making huge losses and at the price it’s coming to market, it’s at 100 times price to sales, which is extremely high ... Normally about twice to three times is very good.” The CEO of JPMorgan, one of the vast syndicate of banks working on the IPO, said it was looking to treat “individual investors the same way institutions are treated”. UK-based Marex Financial is operating a public offer platform where the eight retail platforms – also including AJ Bell, CMC Markets, eToro, Freetrade, Interactive Brokers and interactive investor – can send prospective investors’ orders. Mike Coombes, chief operating officer of British retail investment platform PrimaryBid, said this new approach could set a precedent for other foreign firms targeting UK buyers. An executive at one of the retail platforms

SpaceX is considering allocating as much as 30% of the deal to individual investors – an unusually large retail tranche – with offerings planned in the UK, Germany, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. In Britain, eight online investing platforms have begun inviting UK customers to apply for shares in the US$75 billion raise, seen by some as the most significant retail offering in the country since the flotation of then state-owned Royal Mail in 2013, and a chance to re-energise a lacklustre investing culture. “The retail interest here is unlike any other deal, investors want to be part of the dream,“ said Ygal El Harrar, BNP Paribas’ global head of equity capital markets, technology. European IPO issuance has slumped since 2021 and the proportion of household assets held in financial securities is just 17%, according