Chartering a plane

Tom Dunne

Thought this might be the most appropriate forum for my query.

Basically, I am wondering what is involved in hiring a plane to fly probably 50-60 people to the continent. Destination is not set in stone, but I would envisage somewhere within a 2 hour flight time.

I have no idea where to start. Google has shown me that Aer Arann actually do charter planes out to groups, so that might be an option, but can anyone give me ideas of costs/capacities? Or any other info as to how one would go about doing this, e.g. do I ring airlines directly, or are there companies who specialise in this?

Thanks,

TD.

highlydebased

Aer Arann do but bear in mind they only fly ATR's which wont get you more than 1000nm or so, and slower comparitive to a jet.

you'd be best to contact the likes of European Air Charter (bournemouth) or the like...

alpha2zulu

All day Saturday and Sunday mornings in particular, Aer Arann should have no problem in accomadating a long distance charter. I'm pretty sure that the new ATR 72-500's should bring even the south of France into range.
The cost involved in chartering a jet will seem as big as telephone numbers in comparison with chartering an ATR.
This section of their site has the contact numbers for group bookings.


http://www.aerarann.com/about_us/contact.htm

but can anyone give me ideas of costs/capacities?

They seat up to 72 people but the capacity may be reduced depending on the distance of the flight. In terms of cost you need to bear in mind that you will also be paying for 2 empty flown legs for the aircraft, so this will be factored into any quotation from Aer Arann.

Tom Dunne

Great info so far, thanks.

alpha2zulu wrote: »

In terms of cost you need to bear in mind that you will also be paying for 2 empty flown legs for the aircraft, so this will be factored into any quotation from Aer Arann.

Could that be counteracted by chartering to a current destination that the airline flies to? The idea being that the outward flight is booked by the group and the return flight is open to the public, and vice versa on the return leg?

alpha2zulu

Could that be counteracted by chartering to a current destination that the airline flies to?

For the winter at least their European schedule is solely Amsterdam with the times set in stone a long time previously so cant really be changed to accomadate a charter on the same route even.
eg:This flight routes GWY-WAT-AMS-WAT-GWY and at that point the crews day is done. Your best bet is to give them a call in the morning. outside of the weekend times I mentioned previously, their fleet is largely at full tilt for the rest of the week so this might limit their usefulness to you.

On the plus side however, even 2 empty legs may not be a big problem. Their aircraft are VERY frugal when it comes to fuel so it shouldent break the bank. All depends on how far into Europe your looking to go.

derry

Tom Dunne wrote: »

snip....

Basically, I am wondering what is involved in hiring a plane to fly probably 50-60 people to the continent. Destination is not set in stone, but I would envisage somewhere within a 2 hour flight time.

snip...
Thanks,

TD.

maybe when you got all the facts like destination and costs you can let the rest of know how you got on cost per person cost per leg total costs etc

Then iof others have similar inquirys they can acces this thread

The Arran air turbo props will definitly use less fuel than the jet types say like 737 ( 737 is often 150 or 180 seats so lot of empty seats issues ) but with the excess capacity going at the moment with winter coming you might end up picking up a 737 120 seater for the same price as turbo prop


Years ago I heard of Austrian plane required to bring group to Ireland on a friday and return to Austria empty
Then the plane had to return empty to Ireland empty and pick up the group on the sunday night

But with so little nitice two weeks for me to hear about it it wasn't possible to pick up and use the empty slots from Ireland

It might be an Idea to see if something similar is out there maybe on Europe forums and piggy back that and reduce costs a lot more
Planes flying empty routes any extra money to help cover those costs is a win win even if its a 737 180 seater half full
Also try a airline running the route as most planes break even for the flight if their 55% full
Block booking the like 50% of the flight reduces risks for the airline running the route and increases your ability to get a good rate

Really its a lot of work to get 60 Irish onto the same plane at the same time

Sooner you than me

Derry