Private jets, once the symbol of prestige for corporate high flyers and SA's mink and manure crowd, have in recent years assumed the more meaningful status of productivity boosters, giving corporate SA more reason to fly high without feeling ostentatious.
There's a convincing business case for owning or leasing a jet, which is why a large number of Fortune 500 companies own them. It's about convenience and quick access to remote destinations as more international trade zones open. Why wait in a long queue for a scheduled commercial carrier, when one can jump on a private jet anytime and travel almost anywhere?
Executives today are under more pressure than their predecessors a decade ago to deliver higher revenue and profits as global competition intensifies. No company wants to lose productive hours because executives battle to find suitable air tickets. They have to weigh up the benefits of owning or leasing private aircraft against the potential losses of time and money.
For many firms, such as Anglo American and DaimlerChrysler, owning a business jet or two is a necessity rather than a luxury - it fits with their business strategy.
For other firms, however, the pressures of cost cutting have led them to dispose of privately owned jets.
BHP Billiton, a bastion of wealth and executive style, decided last year to dispose of its private fleet. The company's three aircraft, including the global jet that used to fly nonstop from Lanseria to London or Perth, were sold because they were apparently too expensive to maintain. Instead of running its own fleet, Billiton has opted to go for the cheaper option - chartering flights when necessary.
Even with the strengthening rand, maintaining an aircraft is a huge expense for companies. Since costs for fuel and maintenance are primarily dollar-based and are rising sharply, some companies may find owning a jet burdensome.
At prices between US$8m and more than $80m for mid- to long-range jets, the decision to buy a corporate jet is understandably difficult, especially when companies are downsizing.
However, factors such as the difficulty in getting to remote operational areas that are not well served by charters or commercial flights are forcing companies to look at aircraft acquisition more seriously.
Anyone who has travelled extensively in Africa will know the problems involved in flying from one end of the continent to the other. The slow liberalisation of Africa's airspace is frustrating not just for the business traveller but for ordinary passengers, too. It could take up three to four days on a commercial flight to get to destinations in Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Executives from companies operating in the mining, oil and energy sectors in Africa who need to travel regularly to remote sites, prefer to have their own transport available at any hour. It is not surprising that newcomers to the mining industry such as Tokyo Sexwale, Mzi Khumalo and Patrice Motsepe have also been lured to the private-jet market.
DaimlerChrysler has a 16-seat Lear jet located at Lanseria International Airport that it uses regularly for flights to its plant in East London. It makes sense for executives to use its jet at Lanseria - 15 minutes from its Pretoria head office - rather than go to Johannesburg International Airport, which is an hour away, with long queues for a commercial flight.
Most private-jet and charter flights from Gauteng take off from Lanseria, on the outskirts of Johannesburg. Lanseria airport manager Gavin Sayce says the charter market has grown steadily in the past few years. Aside from tourism, charters also serve the growing corporate market. Companies that do not own a jet prefer charter flights to commercial aircraft. It gives executives the privacy to hold meetings on board without strangers eavesdropping. Lanseria has embarked on a R100m revamp in expectation of more aircraft using its runways.
The big players at Lanseria, ExecuJet and National Airways Corp, say the market outlook for business jets is good, both for sales and private charters.
It's hard to say, though, what the market will look like in the next decade when many African countries will start liberalising their airspace.
Open skies will make it easier for commercial travel on the continent. Some analysts say this might reduce the demand for private jets and smaller companies might opt to go the charter route.
