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This was published 1 year ago
The COVID-19 pandemic has not stopped the rich and famous from coming to Australia by private jet – at least 113 private international flights have landed since April last year, mostly from the United States.
Passengers on private jets include celebrities and other wealthy individuals, business executives on corporate trips and sporting teams such as the charter plane for contestants, families and staff in the World Surf League in March.
Andrew Forrest and a private jet in Sydney in January. Credit:
The figures from aviation data and analytics firm Cirium showed the US was the origin of 94 of the private flights, which landed all over Australia between April 1 last year and May 26, 2021. Sydney Airport was the destination for 13 private jet arrivals, making it the busiest of all the capital cities.
While the arrivals of celebrities such as Ed Sheeran, Zac Efron and Nicole Kidman have been well publicised, the figures suggest arrivals by private jet are more common than previously reported.
Separate figures from aviation analytics and flight tracking company FlightAware reveal about half a dozen flights in the last two months from luxury private jet providers such as FlexJet, VistaJet and Qatar Executive, from locations in the US and Malaysia.
Concierge Doctors founder Zac Turner, who offers medical services for private quarantine, confirmed it had been a busy few months, though he wouldn’t reveal the names of clients.
Kylie Minogue and English singer Ed Sheeran perform together at the state memorial service for Australian music legend Michael Gudinski.Credit:Mushroom Creative House
“Australia is definitely a very attractive destination and also what we’re finding is that more and more people from a myriad of backgrounds who are coming to Australia for their actual job and are now settling down and bringing their families,” Dr Turner said.
Hollywood actress Natalie Portman is living in the eastern suburbs with her husband Benjamin Millepied and their children, and has also brought her parents over. Matt and Lucy Damon and their children live in Byron Bay.
But Dr Turner said it was not just the celebrities themselves but also all the other people involved – for example, many of the longstanding stunt doubles from Marvel movies have now settled here.
Some celebrities have also come and gone multiple times, such as Zac Efron who will complete his third quarantine when he next returns to Australia.
There are still 35,000 Australians abroad registered with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade as wanting to return. A DFAT spokesperson said it had helped more than 47,000 Australians return during the pandemic, including almost 20,000 on 134 government-facilitated repatriation flights.
Since the international borders closed in March last year, foreign nationals have required an exemption to travel to Australia and Australian citizens and permanent residents have required one to leave.
The Cirium figures show New Zealand and Indonesia were the origin countries for five private flights each, while there were three flights from Papua New Guinea, two from Vanuatu and one each for Korea, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore.
The FlightAware data also reveals regular charter flights to and from Port Moresby or Tabubil, the base of operations for the Ok Tedi Copper Mine, in Papua New Guinea.
Keith Tonkin, managing director of consultancy Aviation Projects, said the figures seemed accurate but were probably higher before the pandemic. Cirium was unable to provide 2019 data.
The top two origin airports were Washington Dulles Airport near the US capital and Honolulu, Hawaii, both with 10 flights each. However, Mr Tonkin said the flights would be tracked from the last port where the aircraft refuelled, masking the true origin.
“Honululu would most likely be smaller aircraft dropping in for fuel, it wouldn’t be Hawaiians,” Mr Tonkin said, adding there could possibly be flights from Europe that refuelled in the Asia Pacific too. Cirium was unable to confirm this.
Other NSW destinations included Cootamundra in the Riverina, with 20 private flights landing throughout the year, and Armidale, with five.
Brisbane had five private jet arrivals, with additional four nearby on the Gold Coast, Melbourne took three and Darwin and Perth had one each.
But the busiest airport for arrivals was Bunbury Airport in Western Australia, with 22 flights – all from the US and all this month.
While a private jet costs tens of millions of dollars to buy outright, Mr Tonkin said private jet users did not always own the aircraft, but might lease it or use a fractional ownership model that gives them a certain number of flight hours – like “timeshare in the air”. Chartering a single flight was also an option.
The Australian Border Force processes all arrivals by private jet, but this includes the option of discreet services off-terminal at main airports or, by arrangement, at restricted-use or non-international airports.
An ABF spokesperson said it had cleared 10,712 passengers off terminal from January 1 to May 20 this year, including 6328 Australians on repatriation flights and 2506 crew members. The remaining 1878 arrivals include passengers on private jets along with freighters, military and medevac.
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