Private charter platform PrivateFly has opened a dedicated US office in Miami, Florida, signaling a key step forward in the company’s ambitious US growth plans following strong sales over the past two years.
The new team at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport will handle US client flight sales for any global route, with clients based across the country, including the key, established private aviation centers of New York and Los Angeles. The Miami location was also chosen specifically to target a growing private jet audience in the area; it is a popular luxury travel destination in its own right, and a key connection point for the Caribbean, Mexico and South America.
Adam Twidell, CEO of PrivateFly, said, “PrivateFly’s disruptive model is attracting fast-growing interest from US business aviation customers, who now represent a third of our flight sales. Our new office opening is an exciting step forward for us in this leading global market.
“Florida is the third busiest state for business aviation, after Texas and California, and Miami has exciting future potential. Its private aviation traffic rose by 3% in 2015, following the overall US trend, but we expect the first half of 2016 to see greater growth of around 6–8%.
“We are on an even steeper upward curve at PrivateFly. We saw a 75% growth of Miami flights in the first quarter of 2016 and, while this is partly a reflection of our emerging status in the USA, its demographic is a great fit for our business model. Our fast, tech-driven service is very attractive to the new breed of private jet customer. Miami’s typical private jet user is notably young – one third is under 35 – and this generation is fueling a different kind of private jet experience, built more around booking convenience and exceptional service, rather than champagne and caviar.
“We have relocated experienced team members to Miami from our UK head office, but we’re also looking to fill a number of new roles, including a vice president of sales (USA). PrivateFly is still growing in Europe but we’re looking forward to spreading our wings at the same time, offering our innovative technology and industry expertise on both sides of the Atlantic.”
