We understand that global travel is more challenging during this time and like many industries, aviation has been hit extremely hard by COVID-19. Through our infrastructure and expertise, VistaJet remains committed to ensuring that those who need to, are able to keep moving around the world – not only our customers, but also the wider global community.
There is no doubt that during these times almost every flight seems to be an incredible flight – from bringing families back together to flying individuals needing access to time-critical medical treatment, we find a way to make it happen, safely.
While we often can’t discuss what goes on behind the scenes as we don’t disclose our customers’ identities or the specific nature of their flights, we have been granted permission to share some incredible and unique flights that we have operated during the pandemic.
In March, we launched our Community Support initiative. Since then, we have been working with governments around the world to repatriate citizens, and medical organizations to transport key equipment and doctors to where they are needed the most. One example of this, was in April when we organized a complimentary flight on behalf of the New Zealand government to repatriate citizens from Phnom Penh to Auckland.
With travel restrictions changing daily, customers are remaining flexible in schedule and in helping others. Just recently one of our new Program Members organized a flight out of Marrakech to London for six associates who were connecting onto a commercial flight back to the US. One hour into the booking process there was a new development, the Moroccan Government had issued a ban on all flights except for those passengers with diplomatic clearance or permits. The Member’s PA was in contact with the US Embassy in Morocco and the Moroccan Embassy in New York for further information, to no avail. Knowing of the complexities and set-backs faced during this time, one of VistaJet’s Customer Experience Managers, based in New York but who is from Morocco, worked closely with the Moroccan Embassy and with the Member’s PA to gain clearance.
The morning of the flight, while the team and the Member’s PA were going over the final details, the same Customer Experience Manager mentioned that there were five people (four adults and a baby) who also needed to leave Morocco for the UK and questioned whether they could join the flight. Without hesitation, the Program Member and his PA kindly agreed, wanting to help. After ensuring that no one was ill and that there wouldn’t be any further delays, the additional five passengers were welcomed on board the VistaJet flight. After take-off, we found out that these additional five passengers were a family, and that the little baby had a heart condition and needed to get to the UK for critical treatment.
Our customers are looking for agility to find solutions that enable them to contribute towards the needs of the pandemic, and are not giving up on any opportunities. One of our Program Members, a Canadian philanthropist, is actively involved in the research and development of a treatment against COVID-19 and has already donated $1M to boost research in Montreal. Additionally, this Member has worked with the VistaJet team, generously using her flight hours, to organize a flight from Montreal to Madrid to transport medicine for a clinical trial that would help the Montreal Cardiology Institute in their efforts towards fighting COVID-19.
Customers are taking comfort in VistaJet’s commitment and ability to keep their businesses moving. One of our newest Members who runs an international manufacturing business decided to completely change his company’s core production to develop personal protective equipment (PPE) in order to keep health care workers safe. The Member reached out to the VistaJet team and expressed the importance of him flying to his factory based in the Dominican Republic so he could work on a way to produce medical-grade PPE that went beyond ordinary fabrics and materials. The Member’s selflessness to do everything he could to contribute early on, regardless of whether or not funding was offered, highlights yet another way a VistaJet customer has used private air travel and their resources to contribute back to the fight against COVID-19.
As industries around the world found their usual means of transport unavailable, they looked to private aviation to help with their needs. We organized the transportation of critical spare parts for the oil industry from Guangzhou to Kazakhstan – not an uncommon request from the industry as often cargo flights are not as frequent to meet the demand and companies look to more nimble solutions to ensure their work is not halted and loss in revenues are kept to a minimum.
The private aviation industry is in a key position to help commercial operations, and vice versa, especially during times when their scheduled routings are minimized or in some cases cease, and we continue to be able to safely access locations around the world. We contacted Lufthansa to help us fly a group of young children from Montreal to Munich. Following this commercial first leg, we organized their transport from Munich to Frankfurt to pick up a VistaJet flight and take them onward home to Lebanon – happily repatriating a whole school class.
Behind every VistaJet flight are over a 1,000 aviation experts to help find solutions and ensure every flight departs and lands safely. Where we can, we will always say yes. We are here to make flying private and accessing the world simple.
Do you represent a government or medical organization?
