Planes are always urgently sought out when a crisis strikes somewhere in the world. Since the US-Israel war against Iran started on Saturday, demand has outstripped supply with thousands of people stranded in the Middle East frantically searching for an exit route.
While many are reliant on governments to dispatch aircraft to evacuate them, those with the financial means can look at a more expensive and much speedier option – a private jet. Matt Purton, the director of aviation services at UK-based global company Air Charter Service, is the man some of them have on speed dial.
Purton not only organises for the rich and the famous to be ferried around the world, he also assists governments, fielding requests from everyone from the UK Home Office to the US government seeking planes to deport migrants or carry out evacuations from collapsed countries such as Libya.
While his company does not accept all requests for private planes from anyone who can pay, he admits that the latest Middle East war has not been bad for business. “Requests for planes are probably up 200-300% on what’s usual for this time of year,” he says. “We’re going gangbusters.”
While the company does not automatically inflate prices at times like this, the fact that demand outstrips supply means that its prices are aligned with the current market rate. Most government work is done for a pre-agreed fixed fee.
He is cautious about how the war is going to unfold irrespective of any impact on his company. “The air corridors are quite narrow as it is,” Purton said. “If any more get closed down it will make getting planes in and out of the region much more difficult. The only constant in this situation at the moment is the fluidity of the whole thing. It feels like turning up after an earthquake with a dustpan and brush.
“We’re getting calls from absolutely everyone – from stranded honeymooners in Dubai and holidaymakers who want to club together to hire a plane to get home, to corporates and wealthy individuals and everything in between. When there’s a war happening it doesn’t really distinguish between millionaires and billionaires.”
He says that at the moment there are at least half a million people stuck in the wrong place who want to leave. But many planes and crews are also not in the right places around the world to get to the Middle East and fly people out.
“I think European governments need to work together on this. If they set up an air bridge somewhere like Oman they can move more people out more quickly, flying them from Muscat or Fujairah international airport to somewhere like Larnaca or Malta.”
While his company usually hires out entire planes it occasionally sells seats on them, something it has decided to do to airlift stranded people out of the Middle East.
An estimated 300,000 Britons are believed to be in affected regions of the Middle East and thousands of flights have been cancelled since the joint US-Israeli operation was launched. More than 130,000 Britons have registered their interest in being helped to leave the region.
British nationals were due to return home on the first government flight from Oman on Wednesday evening. However, the flight was delayed due to “operational problems”, and is now due to take off later on Thursday. Two more flights are planned in the next few days.
The flight is due to take off from Muscat, the capital of Oman, and a 280-mile drive from the UAE’s biggest city, Dubai, where many British tourists and expats are currently based.
The Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and UAE, and against any travel whatsoever to and from Israel and Palestine.
“This is the worst air crisis we’ve had since Covid,” says Purton. “We can often make decisions more quickly than governments can, but we work alongside governments who can provide us with diplomatic and other support. Companies like ours are called on to pick up the pieces in these situations.”
