Is round—the—world private jet tour affordable？

In Europe and the U.S.， travel or round-the-world travel by private jet is a growing trend. According to the CEO of Private Fly， in the U.S.， although business travel accounts for a majority share of private jet charter， leisure travel is seeing remarkable growth， from 8% in 2008 to 22% in 1Q 2013. “Apart from group charter， there are certain customers who would like to fly private. Besides， charter flight works better for lavish family travel or travel with pets.”

Louis Barres owns a Cessna Citation and flies it often for short haul trips. But this year， he leases a Gulfstream V from the business jet operator owned by Warren Buffet to take the 13 members of his family on trips to Europe， South America， and the Middle East. He has made similar travels over the past years， each trip costs from 300，000 dollars to 600，000 dollars （1.85 to 3.7 million RMB） depending on the number of passengers， distance of the flight， and other expenses. “Travelling around the world with a chartered jet is of course expensive， but compared with the busy airports， it is much more convenient for families travelling with kids. Besides， if there were any chaos in the place we visit， we can pull out quickly rather than waiting for scheduled flights.” But he also adds， if you are planning a family travel with private jet， don’t expect to save any money.

Although it is less costly to travel with private jet in the Europe or in the U.S.， most people could only afford a round-the-world charter flight once in a lifetime， and most of the money would be spent on the private jet. Today， customized individual round-the-world travel by private jet is more popular than group chartered travel.

A typical round-the-world trip starting from the U.S. and covering over 10 countries takes about 25 days. If you fly a large civil aircraft converted private jet， configured with 30 to 80 seats， the cost per person， including hotel， food， and tours， would range from 50，000 to 100，000 US dollars， or 315，000 to 615，000 RMB. Popular themes of such trips include world heritage sites， ocean views and island life， wildlife treks， geographic discoveries， and five continents.

Four Seasons Hotel， for example， offers an “Around the World with Four Seasons Private Jet” tour with a converted Boeing 757 that boasts of 50 spacious seats. The 23-day journey takes travelers to Hawaii， Bora Bora， Bali， Chiang Mai， Los Angeles， Sydney， Mumbai， Istanbul， and London. The rates are 87，950 USD per person twin share or an additional 10，000 USD for single travelers.