Aircraft Chartering

[Rwy in Sight]

During the Euro 2004, the issue of aircraft chartering surfaced. My question is how long does it take to organise a single inte-European charter flight to Lisbon? Can it be arranged in a couple of days or it takes a couple of weeks?


Thanks for your input


Rwy in Sight

[Flap Sup]

The simple answer to that would be: Depends on how much money you're prepared to spend.

There are a lot of variables, although right now one of the most difficult problems in Portugal would be parking space in the airport!

Depending on size of the aircraft you would charter, it could be ready in a few hours, if you wan't anything bigger that a regular turboprop, you may have to wait until next day. Arranging a charter for the next day is very expensive. Arranging it a couple of weeks ahead saves you a lot of money, even cheaper a couple of months ahead. I have never asked for a quote for a "right now charter", but I have found operators willing to operate for some of my companys customers, when aircraft have gone tech. Some years ago, a Turkish GTI A300 was enroute to scandinavia within one hour after the request was made. That impressed me.

Some airlines specialize in adhoc charters and have standby aircraft and crew for those kind of things, I rememeber a Portugese airline with a slogan like "anytime, anywhere". They operate L1101s, so they should have space enough. Otherwise try calling Flightline, Titan, Falcon, Danish Airtransport, GTI (do they still exist), Blueline or Denim. There are many others, but I only remember these of the top of my head.

/FS

[Trolley-Dolly-Babe]

The airline for "anytime, anywhere" with L1011's would be euroAtlantic Airways

http://www.euroatlantic.pt

[excrewingbod]

A charter to Lisbon or anywhere in Portugal at the moment is virtually impossible - parking is not the main issue - there are very few 'runway' slots available.

If slots were available, in theory a charter could be organised within a couple of hours. In reality, charters for Euro 2004, take a couple of days to arrange, assuming you can get a decent slot.

Unlike Flap Sup, I have had to arrange a number of 'right now charters', to cover for tech aircraft. The 'suppliers' we use, can have an aircraft airborne within 1 hour, of us calling them. In these situations there is not as much to organise, as the slots, catering etc are already in place.

[colegate]

Aircrfat chartering is easy if you have the money. Just try this link
www.airpartner.com/ They are the largest charter brokers in the world and can fix anything from a Cessana to a 747.

[Flightrider]

In the interests of fairness and avoiding partisan advertising, it should be said there are a large number of other companies who offer this type of service and many are equally as effective as Air Partner. In no particular order:

Hunt & Palmer
Aircraft Chartering
Air Charter Service
International Air Charter
Fineminster
Empty Leg
Chapman Freeborn
Air Charter

to name but a few.

[Harrier46]

And watch out for the ATOL requirement if you are flying from the UK. Needed if you are selling seats and want more than a 19 seater. Only takes a few months to arrange!

[Daysleeper]

You can always go direct to the airline. Many such as Atlantic Airlines, Air Atlantique (different bits of same group) Titan even B.A. etc etc are more than happy to deal direct with the customer, saves you 5-7% broker fees.