Business air travel is the segment that drives the growth for the airline industry. The economic recession had brought down the volumes of business travel dramatically affecting the airline industry adversely. But with the global economy recovering business air travel has picked up again. At the high end of business travel private air travel is the proffered the preferred mode of travel as it saves on precious time and provides the comfort to the senior executives to keep them fresh and alert enough to rush to the important meeting from the airport directly.
Senior executives log in hundreds of hour of flying around the world each year and if they depend on commercial airlines for all their travel needs they will end up wasting a lot of precious time on the airports that could be used productively. The luxury airlines have upped their ante and are vying with each other to set new standards in luxury air travel.
The affluent business traveler is very demanding. Their needs are very specific and they don’t mind paying if they get the service they require. The luxury airlines are also not stopping at providing the standard luxury features but are striving to provide the passenger an opportunity to customize the experience.
The Cabin Management System by Georgia based Flight Display Systems is one such amenity that allows the passengers to control XM Radio, Blu-Ray video, cabin lighting, air conditioning and a flight display moving map from the comfort of their seats with a 4.3†touch screen control panel. American Eurocopter’s first Eurocopter EC 145 has incorporated this system in their craft. Helicopter passengers expect the same comforts during flight that they have in their automobiles, such as live flight tracking and in-flight entertainment. Citation Ten and Gulfstream 250 have also installed the system for the greater convenience and comfort of the passenger.