Private jets across Windies skies

BRITISH AIRWAYS (BA) IS LAUNCHING a private jet service within the Caribbean and North America.The British flag carrier has teamed up with CitationAir, the private jet charter subsidiary of Cessna Aircraft, to offer its passengers a cut-price means of flying by private jet.According to Breaking Travel News, an industry website, the partnership with CitationAir also sidesteps BA’s status as a foreign carrier, which means it is barred from operating a domestic service under United States aviation regulations.The service pitches itself as a “no-frills” private jet service – passengers can book online and “pay and go” with a credit card. This avoids the need for upfront fees and long term commitment, things usually associated with private charters.Costs range from US$6 000 to US$10 000 per plane per hour, depending on the type of aircraft.The service is available to anyone who has flown with the carrier in the past 12 months, members of the BA executive club programme, as well as employees of the airline’s corporate clients.Robert Boyle, BA’s director of strategy and business units, told The Telegraph: “Now we can offer our customers a seamless service to fly when they want and where they want, to almost any destination within the United States, Caribbean, southern Canada and Mexico.”BA currently flies to 19 destinations in America and has a tie-up with American Airlines for US domestic flights. It is pursuing regulatory clearance for a transatlantic tie-up with American Airlines and its expected merger partner Iberia. This would allow the three airlines to share revenues and coordinate ticket prices on BA’s services between the UK and America. (TBN/AB)