Fractional aircraft ownership and jet cards — who they suit

Between one-off charter and owning an aircraft outright there are two formats that are little known in Russia: a share in a specific aircraft, and a card with prepaid hours. Both solve the same problem — guaranteed access to an aircraft without the full cost of ownership.

Fractional ownership

You buy a share in a specific aircraft and receive the right to a set number of flight hours a year. On top of the price of the share you pay a monthly management fee and an hourly rate for the flying you actually do. At the end of the programme the share is bought back or sold on.

• upside: guaranteed availability within an agreed notice period, a predictable budget, an aircraft whose condition you know
• downside: a higher entry cost than a card, leaving the programme takes time, and the residual value of the share is set by the contract rather than by the market

Jet cards

A card is prepaid flight hours at a fixed rate on a particular type or class. You own nothing, but you get priority on availability and an hourly price known in advance.

• upside: easy to enter and to leave, no operational worries, a clear cost per hour
• downside: money up front, the terms on availability and on which aircraft you actually get need reading closely, and what happens to unused hours when the programme ends is a clause in its own right

How to choose the format by annual flight hours

• up to 100–150 hours a year — ordinary charter, nothing beats it on money
• 150–300 hours — a jet card or a share: guaranteed availability starts to be worth more than the difference in rate
• from 300 hours — your own aircraft, placed under management with an operator

The figures are indicative: where the real line falls depends on your routes, on seasonality and on how critical it is for you to have an aircraft ready within a few hours.

What to look for in the contract

• the guaranteed notice period for an aircraft and what happens if it is missed
• which dates are excluded — holidays and peak periods are usually carved out separately
• how the flight hour is counted: block time, airborne time, with a minimum charge
• what becomes of unused hours and the terms for getting money back
• the procedure for leaving the programme and how the share is valued on buy-back
• what you get if another type is substituted while your aircraft is in maintenance

Frequently asked questions

How does a jet card differ from fractional ownership?

A card is prepaid hours with no ownership attached. A share is ownership of part of a specific aircraft, with an entitlement to annual flight hours and mandatory monthly payments.

Do such programmes exist in Russia?

The market is narrow, but the structures do work — more often as an arrangement with a particular operator than as a public programme of the Western kind. Terms are agreed case by case.

What happens to unused hours?

This is the key clause in the contract: in some programmes they carry over to the next period, in others they expire. Read it before you pay.