Private jet travels during Coronavirus pandemic: News & Tips

Coronavirus: Regular updates and recommendations

Private jet travels during Coronavirus

We are doing our best to providing you with the latest information on travelling restrictions during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

Latest Update (September 17, 2020): Vienna, Austria

Germany and Belgium have confirmed that Vienna is now amongst the high-risk cities. Belgium lists the entire Austrian territory – Carinthia excluded.

Latest Update (August 18, 2020): Travelling restrictions are back – the Balearic Islands and Croatia now in the spotlight

The end of the summer season seems to bring back some travel restrictions between European destinations including summer hotspots like the Balearic Islands, Spain and Croatia. After Germany has introduced stricter regulations for travellers coming in from the Balearic Islands a week ago, Switzerland is following with the latest communication announcing obligatory quarantine will apply from August 20 for people coming in from Albania, Belgium, Malta, Monaco and Luxembourg. Even though a negative COVID-19 text at arrival means exemption from quarantine in Germany, such renewed safety measures means undermining holiday plans for many. Corsica, Sardinia and the French Riviera are the preferable destinations these days.

Latest Update (July 15, 2020): Austria, Ireland and the UK

Austria decided to expand its country ban adding Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Egypt, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania and Serbia to the list. Lombardy, on the other hand, has been removed.

Meanwhile, Ryanair announced it would cut around 1,000 flights between Ireland and the UK in August and September due to the new quarantine measures for EU residents entering Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Latest Update (June 18, 2020): Europe

While France has already opened up since June 15th, Spanish governments have announced that it's on June 21st that they will reopen their borders to international travellers. It is now possible to travel to Spain via private jet. On the other hand, many famous clubbing spots in Ibiza have announced that they won't reopen for the 2020 season.

Latest Update (June 3, 2020): Italy

Italy was waiting for June the 3rd to open up its regions. Whether some airports are still closed, many others are reopening. National flights will now be restored.

Latest Update (June 2, 2020): France

France has opened up domestic flights and it is now possible to fly within the country.

Latest Update (May 27, 2020): Croatia

According to the latest news, Croatia will begin to allow tourists only after June 15th. For the time being, however, business meetings and yacht owners or renters can enter the country freely after the state police have approved them.

Latest Update (May 25, 2020): Sardinia, Italy

Based on the latest indications released by the Governor of Sardinia, all passengers who are planning to travel to Sardinia will have to comply with the following regulations. Our team is always ready to help you out as the instructions for some of the steps explained below could be available in Italian only.

1. Request the authorisation to enter the island via the Sardinian Region APP available at www.regionesardegna.it
2. Fill in the dedicated form
3. Possess a negative molecular COVID-19 test. If this is not the case, the passenger would need a negative serological COVID-19 test, administered by the medical staff of the Airport Authority upon arrival
4. Possess a self-declaration document containing the reason for the flight

Latest Update (May 22, 2020): Austrian air travel restrictions, which were supposed to expire on May 22nd have been now officially prolonged. The new expiry date for the restrictions has been now decided for June 14th.

Latest Update (May 18, 2020): Governments have started to declare dates in late May and June when physical borders' bans will be lifted. Italy is planning to open up from June 3rd, but exceptions apply on a regional base. Sardinia's most famous holiday destination, Olbia, is regarded as one of the first holiday spots to open up to tourism. We have just received the information that Olbia's airport will be open for private jet charters from May 21st. Unfortunately, no details on the measures for travellers (e.g., the need for a negative COVID-19 test upon arrival or mandatory quarantine) are yet known.

Latest Update (May 1st, 2020): As countries are lifting their lockdown measures, we are providing you with an update about Austrian inbound flights on the day of Austria's end of lockdown.

As per the latest disposition, passengers coming from the following countries won't be able to enter Austria until May 22nd.

• China
• Iran
• Italy
• Switzerland
• France
• Spain
• UK
• Netherlands
• Russia
• Ukraine

Latest Update (April 20, 2020): Some European governments are relaxing their lockdown measures allowing some small shops to reopen. We are closely monitoring the situation providing you an overview of the future dates when lockdown measures are to be lifted in some of the European countries which have been most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

*small shops have already begun to reopen

Latest Update (March 30, 2020): We are proud to be offering free empty legs to help governments, embassies and medical staff as well as facilitate the transport of organs and blood reserves during such unprecedented times. We are now partnering with the Austrian Senate for Economic Affairs offering to repatriate citizens along with many others services:

• Return flights (preferred entry requirements for citizens)
• Business flights (efficient travel for top decision-makers, politicians and diplomats)
• Medical Air Transport
• Personal flights (medical and virologist researchers)
• Organ, emergency device and material transport
• Drug-delivery travels
• Blood reserves transport

The Senate for Economic Affairs (SENAT DER WIRTSCHAFT) has also just published a COVID-19 toolkit to help the public during the unprecedented state of crisis we are living.

Latest Update (March 25, 2020): We have reported a total of 226 passengers who have been safely repatriated by GlobeAir since March 6. Passengers were mostly departing from France, Switzerland and Spain; to reach:Switzerland, Germany and the United Kingdom. The main reason why many of them have chosen to fly private can be attributed to the present status of commercial airlines, being the latter unable to offer repatriation flights for citizens.

Latest Update (March 20, 2020): EBAA (European Business Aviation Association) has just released coronavirus-specific guidelines.

Latest Update (March 19, 2020): Given the latest update from the Austrian government, we are now able to shed some light upon the existing regulations regarding inbound Austrian flights.

According to Section 25 Epidemic Act 1950 of the Federal Law Gazette No. 186/1950 the following rules will apply starting from March, 20, 2020 and will remain in force until April 10, 2020.

Crew is exempt from any restrictions and will always be able to fly back to Austria without being held in quarantine.

The regulations below apply to both private and commercial flights:

• If you are anAustrian citizen or resident: you will always be allowed to fly back to Austria on condition of a 14 day-period of self quarantine and specific documents to be signed upon arrival.

• If you are aNon-Austrian citizen or resident but you hold a special status (status specification follows): the same rule as the first point applies to citizens who fall into any of the following categories:

• member or staff of UN organisations
• Member or staff of diplomatic organisations or embassies
• Family member of people mentioned above
• People working in the cargo industry
• People working in humanitarian or health care organisations
• Medical staff

• If you are a foreigner with neither visa nor Austrian residence: you are allowed to fly back into Austria on condition of a medical certificate which is not older than 4 days to be provided in either German or English which proves negative results against the SARS-CoV-2 virus test. If unable to provide the test certificate, which has to come from a reliable source, an immediate period of quarantine will be enforced.

Type of flights allowed to land in Austria (regardless of departure country)

• repatriation flights
• positioning fights
• organ transport flights
• maintenance flights
• cargo flights

Flight Matrix

Latest update: 23/03/2020, 12:00 PM

Here is an overview of the current airport restrictions. We strive to provide you with the latest information regarding flight availabilities. If you have specific questions, however, it is always advisable to get in touch with our customer care team. We are available 24/7 for you.

🔴> Not available with exceptions: inbound flight country citizen, residence permit, cross-border permit, Swiss visa, professional reason, registration certificate

* > National citizens and residents are always allowed to fly back home given their passports match with the destination

** > Commercial flights to the Balearic Islands are currently forbidden. GlobeAir is pleased to fly you to Barcelona and connect you with the available airline for you to reach your destinations.

Update (March 8, 2020): Due to the latest updates regarding the coronavirus outbreak in Italy, we regret to inform that no flights are allowed from and to the following Italian areas: Lombardy, Rimini, Venice, Treviso and Parma.

GlobeAir is taking utmost care in keeping the aircraft clean and safe for passengers. We are making hand sanitizer and cleaning wipes available for all guests. Also, we ensure that the cockpit and the cabin are cleaned and disinfected regularly, and the crew always has a disinfectant kit at hand.

Generally, private jet charters and private jet lounge are much more secure than big airports' terminals hence our decision to continue offering flights with no change for the time being.

How to travel safe?

The outbreak of a novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), which originated in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, has now been declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization. EASA (European Union Aviation Safety Agency) has just published a set of good practices to follow before or during a flight.

Travellers should follow the below suggestions

1. Wash your hands every time you handle food
2. Clean hands frequently with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water
3. Cover mouth and nose with flexed elbow or tissue and dispose of tissues immediately afterwards and wash your hands

Travellers are warned not to

1. Fly if you have a fever, cough, cold, flu-like symptoms or difficulty breathing
2. Forget to inform crew about your health status
3. Forget to share your travel history with your health care providers
4. Eat raw or undercooked animal products
5. Have close contact with others who have a fever, cough, cold, difficulty breathing

Travelling by private jet during the coronavirus outbreak

Things to know and benefits of business aviation

Generally, flying private jet diminishes the risk of contracting any contagious disease; passengers are collected from their preferred locations and fly via less-trafficked environments. Private aviation's dedicated FBOs are quieter and more secluded compared to the commercial airlines' ones.

Nevertheless, advice has also been directed to operators too. GlobeAir has instructed their crew to make use of protective equipment (single-use gloves or mask) when in contact with passengers who show symptoms of an acute respiratory infection (cough, frequent sneezing, blocked nose, sore throat or similar). As well as this, instructions to report the state of health to the authorities are known. The latter should be followed in the case of acknowledged passengers' poor state of health.

Our reference information centre, The European Business Aviation Association (EBAA) is currently monitoring the developments of the outbreak closely.

What do we know about the coronavirus so far?

Basic knowledge about the "2019-ncov"

The outbreak was likely caused by the proximity of animals and people in the Chinese street market of Wuhan. Bats are said to be the first carrier of the virus, contracted then by mammals sold at the market. Symptoms resemble flu and could include pneumonia. For the moment, scientists have started work on vaccines for the disease, but they won't be ready for another six or twelve months. You can always learn more about the coronavirus following the World Health Organization's official updates.

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