According to a report in Times of India, a west India-based company had chartered a 180-seater aircraft which may have cost about Rs 10 lakh.
The aircraft took off from Delhi with just the crew at 9.05 am on Monday and reached Bhopal at 10.30am. Later the family boarded the flight in Bhopal at 11.30am to come back to Delhi at 12.55 pm.
There are scores of high net worth individuals (HNI) and companies who do not want to take a risk of flying with others during these times.
The covid-19 induced lockdown has already battered the travel industry as people were not traveling. However, the government has eased the restrictions by permitting travel as per the state rules leading to high net worth individuals turning to charted flights to stay safe. This has led to more travel queries to airlines and charter companies regarding chartered planes.
Another element that has prompted such flights is the cost of aviation turbine fuel (ATF). ATF remains the biggest operating cost of a flight and since the prices are low, the airlines and charter companies are able to pass on the benefit by offering decent rates that HNIs/ corporates can afford.
According to the report in the national daily, chartering an A320 can cost you anywhere between Rs 4-5 lakh an hour (depending on ATF price). It means if you want to travel Delhi-Mumbai-Delhi, the cost will come around Rs 16-18 lakh.
In fact this is a domestic travel where the family of four but earlier a family of three had taken a wide-body aircraft to fly all the way from Europe to India on March 21, according to the report.
The total number of Covid-19 cases in India has touched 1,58,333, according to the data released by ministry of health and family welfare. Maharashtra had reported the maximum cases on Wednesday.