Switzerland World Economic Forum

Airbus Has Studied What Billionaires Need When They Travel

The rich and famous have various advantages in life, including the way that they travel abroad. Instead of booking a cruise or travelling on popular commercial airlines, billionaires often buy their own private jets or yachts. What you probably didn’t know is that you can live like this too. That is, if you make use of a site like Jettly, where you can find private flights on demand. There were 672 new private jets sold in 2012, a sales dip of 3.4 percent from 2011. Overall, 11,261 private jets were registered for use in the United States, and 7,997 in the rest of the world.

According to Airbus’s recent research, Billionaires have four unique travel “needs”, which it contracted out to better compete against to sell such people more personal jets. The four needs are Flexibility, Privacy, Familiarity and Tailored Experienced.

http---www.jetplacesaircharter.com-wp-content-uploads-2012-12-bombardier-global-6000“Billionaires have reached a status in life where they can essentially have things just about any way they want them. Whether it’s customized cars, homes or boats, when money is no objects, the only limitation is seemingly the imagination,” said Airbus’s Research Team. Throughout this research, Airbus is hoping to tap into the billionaire brain and let it bring more successfully selling personal versions of its jetliners through the Airbus Corporate Jet Division, also to compete against other private jet manufacturers by learning what their customers wanted the most and to provide the best possible private jet experience, for example, for Phuket Koh Samui flight.

“The need for privacy is a key driver of private jet use,” said the report. Definitely! Many billionaires even require their own personal staff to wait on them throughout the flight. Larger entourages of a billionaire’s staff means that there is a need to transport and house larger groups.

http---2.bp.blogspot.com--r8WGB2HECbA-UZDvxR0mvcI-AAAAAAAABwM-soi1EVeoXLg-s1600-private+jet_FG+raises+alarmThe study says many billionaires have shared some common characteristics, including being highly determined, invariably very smart and always service-oriented. Because of this, they travel the way they live. “When billionaires travel, when want to retain the ability to have whatever they want, as they can do at home. They are used to living in a certain way, and they want to continue to do that where they are.”

The report was compiled by Ledbury Research in London and researched 250 billionaire business travelers in China, the Middle East and Russia. It also found some interesting generalizations, such as Russians are more likely to make their wealth visible than their counterparts in China and the Middle East. Russian billionaires are less likely to purchase a private jet than a mega-yacht because it would be less likely noticed by the media. The report also determined that younger billionaires are more likely to spend while older billionaires try to preserve their money.

Since Airbus has joined Aerion to work on the Supersonic Business Jet Project, we believe this study is an important part of supporting the team to compete with its competitors. Share your comments with us.