Businesses of every shape and size are having to adapt to rising costs, driven by high inflation around the world. Every possible lever should be pulled in the pursuit of lowered costs – and some of those savings can be found in surprising places.
Why does aviation matter?
Even if your business doesn’t directly deal with aeroplanes, the chances are overwhelming that you’ve indirectly benefited from their use. Air travel helps to bring countries closer together, and facilitates trade between them. According to a report by the Air Transport Action Group, the industry globally supports around 4.1% of GDP and creates around 87 million jobs (of which just 11.3 million are to be directly found in the aviation industry.)
Specifically, aviation might benefit your business in a range of different ways.
Increased productivity
If you need to travel a long distance for business reasons, then air transport might be exactly what’s required. Rather than spending hours, or even days, in the seat of a car or a train, you’ll arrive in much less time. This goes especially if you’re flying by private business plane.
For an illustration of this effect, we might consider an extreme example. The CEO of an FTSE100 company might value their time extremely highly. Taking a private plane rather than driving might allow for hours to be recovered, and put to better use elsewhere. The same principle applies to more junior professionals – though the cost of the travel will need to be weighed against the potential benefits.
Transportation of goods
Air travel allows goods to be shipped much more quickly than a boat would. While sea shipping is orders of magnitude more efficient than air or even road, the aeroplane offers advantages that can’t be replicated elsewhere.
Since products can be shipped extremely quickly in a plane, they’re ideal for perishable goods whose value might decline if shipping were to take a long time. Aeroplanes also tend to be more reliable, and more accessible, with fewer bureaucratic barriers.
Nurturing business relationships
There’s a great deal to be said for the power of constant communication via e-mail, WhatsApp and other text-based services. Similarly, the power of video-conferencing software like Zoom means that we can conduct quality meetings from across vast distances.
And yet, there’s something missing from a business world that relies entirely on these technologies, to the exclusion of face-to-face meetings. When you communicate with someone face-to-face, whether it’s a customer or a would-be partner in a faraway territory, you provide them with a far superior quality of information. This goes especially if you’re dealing with language barriers. What’s more, potential clients are likely to be impressed if you go to the length of hiring a private jet in order to facilitate a meeting!