Magnus Aviation, a UK-based private jet charter business, is advising the industry to prepare for a surge in bookings from China this week. A national holiday, Golden Week, is starting, and thanks to a record 31-year low for the UK pound against the US dollar, the company believes that many wealthy Chinese nationals could be tempted to fly into the UK on their private jets to take advantage.
Golden Week is a three-day paid holiday, with the surrounding weekends rearranged so that employees get a continuous seven days off – plenty of time to snap up luxury goods in London at bargain prices. Sterling has fallen more than 12% against the Chinese Yuan since the UK voted to leave the EU, which could bring more visitors from China during this period.
Business from China, in general, has been on the rise, with numbers up around 33% year-to-date during 2016, but the Brexit vote and falling pound have accelerated growth further. Magnus Aviation reports double the number of enquiries from China to charter private jets during the last three months, compared with the same period in 2015.
James Armstrong, head of commercial development at Magnus Aviation, said, “Concerns over Brexit have seen sterling hit a massive low against the dollar, and this combined with Golden Week should see a huge surge in high net worth individuals from China and elsewhere flying into London to buy luxury goods at bargain prices for them.”
