Business trip to Sydney

November, 2021

The Coronavirus pandemic continues to have a massive impact on scheduled airline services. Furthermore, many connections that were operated before the pandemic are no longer available. On the one hand, many countries still have travel restrictions in place, and on the other hand, the capacity utilisation is too low, especially on long-haul routes, because some passengers fear that they will become infected with COVID-19 during the flight. Nevertheless, many travellers have still had to find a way to reach far-away destinations – for example, for business trips.

sydney

An international mining company recently faced this problem. Four specialists from Germany were assigned to a mining project in Australia. Their expertise was so important that the company did not want to risk even one of the employees becoming infected with the Coronavirus during a scheduled flight. The solution to this problem: the four staff members made their business trip to Sydney in a private jet . The starting point for their trip was Berlin, the capital of Germany.

Preparation of a long-haul flight

The total distance from Berlin to Sydney is 16,740 kilometres. A flight without a refuelling stop is unthinkable for such a distance, but at the very least we wanted to minimise the number of stopovers, and, of course, also provide the passengers with a comfortable flight. That's why we decided to use the long-distance Embraer Lineage 1000 private jet, [link] which would reach its destination with only two fuel stops. In addition to its long range, this jet scored extra points with its comfortable sofas, roomy seats and – in night configuration mode – freshly made beds for our passengers.

Since the flight was scheduled to last 24 hours and the crew had to observe the specified rest periods on each flight, we planned to change the crew at one of the stops and engaged a total of 11 crew members so that there would be no delays.

When Sydney went into lockdown at short notice due to the pandemic, we worked with our client to overcome another hurdle: the entry requirements entailed not only a negative COVID test, but also an exemption permit, which we were able to obtain in time.

A day in a private jet

On the morning of departure, our passengers cheerfully boarded their private plane at Berlin Brandenburg Airport. In the roomy passenger cabin, they immediately felt at home and made themselves comfortable. As usual on long-haul flights, they enjoyed outstanding catering. At the first fuel stop at Sharjah International Airport in the United Arab Emirates, we carried out the planned crew change and replaced the crew with fresh personnel. At the site of the second fuel stop, Kuala Lumpur Airport, we then converted the Embraer Lineage cabin to the night configuration to enable our passengers to get a good night’s sleep.

private jet bed

Therefore, our passengers arrived well rested at Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport on the afternoon of the next day (local time). There, as required by the authorities, they first quarantined for two weeks at a hotel, after which they could start their work on site. We wish them every success with their projects and will be happy to help if they decide to fly home by private jet.