Jetcraft
For executives, entrepreneurs and other high-net-worth individuals, time is valuable. To use every minute wisely, it helps to have ownership of a private jet, which provides complete control over a travel itinerary, as well as enabling passengers to cross continents in safety and luxury. This is one of the reasons why private jet broker Jetcraft has seen rapid growth, overseeing more than 950 transactions in the past decade.
Jetcraft is owned by Jahid Fazal-Karim, who joined the company in 2008 after working at Airbus and Bombardier, but its roots go back to 1962 when it was founded by Charles “Bucky” Oliver in Raleigh, North Carolina. “We were a flight school and Fixed Base Operator (FBO) before Bucky acquired four Learjets in the ’70s,” says Fazal-Karim. “Our business is about relationships, so when you’re regularly flying someone to their destinations, it soon develops into them asking for help with other things, such as buying their next plane. It was the natural progression and how we became the Jetcraft we are today – the largest international buyer of aircraft on behalf of private clients and businesses.”
The company is headquartered in London and has more than 30 offices around the world. The UK hub places Jetcraft at the centre of different time zones, so it can be agile to requests from the US, Asia and Australia. This ties in with the company’s innate understanding that “time is money”. Jetcraft’s skilled analysts can rapidly match the ideal jet with the right buyer or seller, enabled by the company’s development of a powerful blend of transactional data and proprietary tools. Such industry expertise means Jetcraft can respond to enquiries within two hours, and AI has the potential to cut this time further to mere minutes. By applying its technology, Jetcraft sells aircraft 36 per cent faster than the industry average.
Another of Jetcraft’s attributes is its huge aircraft inventory, which spans from eight-passenger light jets to long-range planes fitted with bedrooms, bathrooms and offices. The company brokers sales between individuals and organisations but also buys aircraft directly; over the time of an aircraft’s life, Jetcraft will often buy and sell it multiple times to different clients. The team has access to an unparalleled network it can lean on to assist clients with maintenance, crew sourcing, hangaring and fleet management. The in-house finance team can develop a payment plan based on critical details, such as tax and regulatory considerations.
When it comes to cutting emissions, Jetcraft engages in carbon offsetting, and has removed over 24,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere since 2021. The company also invests in projects that deliver positive environmental, developmental and social change worldwide. Jetcraft has supported initiatives including forest conservation in Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and the US; the facilitation of renewable energy in Argentina, South Africa and Turkey, and methane capture from a landfill in North Carolina.
This global outlook is essential as the demand for private jets continues to grow, with a burgeoning market in the Middle East and a forecast for strong growth in Europe over the next five years. “There has been a huge increase in interest and awareness of what business aviation can do for time-poor business executives and owners,” says Fazal-Karim. “They don’t have to wait in lines at commercial airports, can continue working while they are in the air and can use smaller airports much closer to their destination to save hours of valuable time.”