Abercrombie & Kent is taking the next step with its private jet tours by incorporating lie-flat adjustable sleeper seats on the aircraft on its departures this fall. The company is the first to introduce the sleeper seats on private jet trips.
A&K is using a chartered Icelandair Boeing 757-200ER with 50 custom-designed Italian leather seats for its private jet trips. Each aircraft is equipped with a personal massage system, four-way adjustable headrests, lumbar support and a lie-flat bed more than six and a half feet long when folded out.
The passenger area has an open bar, an on-board chef and a crew that travels with the group for the duration of the trip.
A&K will use the lie-flat seats first on its fall 2014 departure of the Around the World with Geoffrey Kent itinerary. The company will offer three private jet trips in 2014: Africa: Across a Continent by Private Jet Feb. 20-March 10, 2015; Islands, Savannas and the Amazon, Sept. 17-Oct. 10, 2015; and Wonders of the World by Private Jet, Octo. 12-Nov.6, 2015.
Historically the private jet tour model has used an aircraft reconfigured by removing the standard economy class seats and replacing them with a much smaller number of business class seats. The addition of lie-flat seats is a logical next step in the evolution of the product.
A&K is one of few tour operators to have ever offered private jet trips. Occupying a rarefied high-end market, the private jet product is in surprisingly high demand from a certain tier of high-end traveler because of the ease with which a private jet can access a diverse set of destinations on an itinerary in a relatively short time and with a high level of comfort. It’s also attractive to travel agents because of the high commissions, often in the $10,000 zone.
Pamela Lassers, A&K’s director of media relations, said the company’s new private jet trips are well suited for the entrepreneur who has devoted so much time to building up his business that he has not had the time for leisure travel. With one private jet trip, a traveler can knock several major destinations off his bucket list.
The few operators that have offered private jet tours besides A&K include Travcoa, TCS Expeditions, Intrav and Lakani World Tours.
Advantages of private jet tours include ease of transference through security and immigration checkpoints. Private jets can often streamline the security protocol to make it much simpler and faster. Passengers usually are able to bypass check-in lines. Private jets can also land in places where larger-capacity planes cannot.
Prices range from $50,000 upwards to $100,000 or more. A&K’s Wonders of the World trip is priced from $108,000. The Wonders of the World trip includes Machu Picchu, Easter Island, Samoa, Sydney, Angkor Wat, the Taj Mahal, Turkey and Morocco in a single 24-day itinerary.
A&K introduced its first private jet tour in 1989, the Royal Air Tour. The company offered private tours on the Concord for a while before the plane was taken out of service. The market ebbs and flows with economic conditions. It seems to be on an upswing again now. A&K’s recent Africa trip sold out in two months, prompting the company to offer a second departure. Its recent private jet offering hosted by Geoffrey Kent sold out in three weeks.
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