2022 Latin America Private Aviation Outlook

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The pandemic changed travel forever. That’s no overstatement. Commercial aviation was grounded, and private flying was challenged for creative, out-of-the-box solutions. During 2021, after a noticeable slump in demand due to travel restrictions in almost every continent, passengers still needed to fly, naturally. Whether for repatriation purposes, cargo flights or urgent business matters, private aviation was there, as flexible, and efficient as ever, to provide solutions.

Safety deserves a separate paragraph, as it was arguably the main added value that executive flights brought to the table as passengers were worried about the virus and the potential infection rate. Well, when flying privately those concerns are reduced almost entirely as the travel experience is controlled from start to finish, with touchpoints reduced to a minimum. That fact increased travel demand in Latin America while first-time private jet travelers knocked on the door.

In Latin America, together with GE Digital and Flapz, we wanted to take safety to a whole new level, by making it easy for business jet operators to implement safety procedures at the highest level of international standards. The companies will work together to provide GE Digital’s Safety Insight for Business Jets, with the goal to digitalize the market and help our customers and partners to reduce costs, save time, and commercialize their assets efficiently and flexibly.

Furthermore, another important highlight during 2021 was the diversification of the industry in the region, with operators understanding that diversification was instrumental for maintaining the flight hours. A marketplace like Flapz was a key driver for those operators without the needed reach to commercialize their assets, providing a transparent channel to pair the supply and demand. In fact, during May and July, Flapz registered a 350% increase in cargo flights, because of the drop in commercial operations and the possibility to have an aircraft available in just two hours.

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What 2022 Has in Store: Crypto and Green Aviation 

The going green bandwagon has also reached aviation in Latin America. In fact, private aviation and the carbon reduction movement is a huge topic for the industry, as regularly few passengers use a private flight, compared to the packed commercial airplanes. At Flapz we are aware about the new expectations from our stakeholders and the need to meet them with concrete actions. This is the reason we partnered with Varon Vehicles, a mobility infrastructure company based in the United States, to help develop an urban air mobility (UAM) ecosystem in Latin America.

Flapz will serve as an active marketplace in Latin America for the network run by Varon Vehicles, offering seats for initial flights by electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and leading the overall commercialization process from the beginning. This partnership is also focused on establishing the “15-minute city” concept in the Latin American political, social, and economic agenda, seeking to revolutionize how communities socialize while improving quality of life in the process and fostering socio-economic development. We have also partnered with local NGOs to work together towards CO2 offset, committing ourselves to an important contribution to the environment for every flight sold via our marketplace.

The opportunity for passengers to choose, in this case from a wider array of aircraft, electric included, will also move towards the payment realm. Granting clients with more flexibility should be the objective of every true player in the BizAv industry in Latin America moving forward. This is where cryptocurrencies come into play as an effort to attract clients to a truly inclusive digital experience ecosystem. Flapz is second to none in the region and recently launched a partnership with QuikiPay to allow clients and businesses to pay a charter flight with any cryptocurrency, while also maintaining other regular digital payment options. I expect that trend to increase in the region; allowing clients to decide how they want to fly is paramount for the growth of the industry.

Technology, Aircraft and Expansion 

Digitalization and innovation are other key factors to secure sustained growth in the industry. And I’m not only referring to booking apps, but the possibility to grant operators in the region to go from an analog state to an entirely digital ecosystem. Our commitment from day one with an extremely important focus for 2022 is to lead the digital transformation process, providing the entire ecosystem, not only our partners, the tools to manage their movements in a more efficient, transparent, and safe manner. This one-stop shop approach has the potential to revolutionize the industry and truly elevate its standards in comparison to those in fully developed markets.

Furthermore, the addition of larger private jets, with more reach, like the Gulfstream G500, G400 and G280, and versatility, like the Pilatus PC-24, bodes well for the competitiveness of the entire industry, with key operators like Helistar, Sarpa and Flexair in Colombia, and Aerocardal and Aviasur in Chile leading the way with very high operational and safety standards, and superior service. Colombia and Chile are two of the best equipped markets in the region, with solid infrastructure and number of private jets, the reason why Flapz has opted to have a base in Bogotá and Santiago de Chile.

As every disruptive private aviation marketplace in the globe, Flapz also has an expansion in store. 2022 is the year to grow to Mexico, the fourth largest private aviation market in the word by number of certified private aircraft, and we will take our experience and disruptive business model to support the growth of the industry in the country. It means a big opportunity considering the size of the market, it’s overall level of maturity, number of movements and operators, and the proximity to the largest market in the word, the US.

Finally, and this goes for all BizAv players out there, we project that 2022 is the year where face-to-face business activity will regain its shape. Although we have been seeing that since late 2021, we think the trend will be crowned during the first semester of 2022. That means that private jet activity should continue increasing, with businesses remaining active throughout the year with the need to stay in touch, physically, with their globally scattered workforce and stakeholders. Leisure travel should also spike, as people deserve to explore remote destinations and enjoy nature after more than two years of lockdown.

In essence, 2021 was a year of adaptation for the business aviation industry in Latin America, while 2022 projects to be the year of stability and sustained growth. Flapz will remain active in the BizAv debate, as we are moved by the commitment to improving the competitiveness of the entire industry in the region and the overall experience of all passengers opting for a flexible, efficient, and safe way to travel. Welcome, 2022!

Ionatan Galeano
Ionatan Galeano
Ionatan, cuidadano colombo-israeli- CEO y CoFundador de Flapz, administrador de empresas con MA en Relaciones Internacionales y Diplomacia de la U de Tel Aviv. Apasionado por la innovacion, ha desempenando cargos gerenciales de multiples startups Israelies liderando su expansion en latinoamerica. 

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