For the first time, travelers and agencies can book flights on private jets directly online. OpenJet developed a unique Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution for charter operator managements that allows the jet operator to calculate availability and pricing on flights in real-time, thus reducing empty-leg flights. The new service gives travel agencies and consumers alike direct access to private aviation booking, helping them find cheaper routes, faster.
OpenJet connects the supply and demand under a single end-to-end platform, speeding up the entire booking process. Direct inquiries to operators or brokers are not necessary anymore. The Solution offers travelers who already fly privately a smarter way to find and book flights. Additionally it provides busy travelers who fly more poorly connected commercial routes easier access to private aviation, in a simple, cost-effective fashion.
“Unlike our competitors, we don’t aim to create a billionaire’s club. We are bringing efficiency and liquidity to a very inefficient market. Our technology provides the traveler with the optimal planes like Uber did to ground transportation, providing cheaper flight for fliers and increasing the paid use of aircraft for operators.” explains Raphael Vullierme, COO of OpenJet.
Each charter flight combines a distinctive set of dynamic variables such as aircraft type, positioning, and performance but also crew qualification, flight-time limitations and runway requirements. OpenJet’s cloud-based ERP collects, stores, and manages all this data in real-time.
“Our team of Ph.D. mathematicians has built an optimization engine, using highly scalable algorithms, to find the best matching aircraft and crew for any given query. We check thousands of parameters to provide results that guarantee availability and a firm price on any given aircraft. This means we can provide customers with the best offers, and operators with an effortless boost in profitability.” explains Shawn S. Sullivan, CEO of OpenJet.
The algorithm is set to check travel inquiries and aircraft positions within seconds to offer viable routes for both operators and travelers. OpenJet charges a 7.5% fee on all transactions and is already being used by leading jet operators in France, Germany, Switzerland, the UK, Belgium, and the United States.
OpenJet will be available throughout Europe as of April. The startup plan is to expand business activities to the US market in June. In the future, the platform will also integrate helicopter flights. The private charter industry has annual revenues of $15 billion – $4 billion attributable to the European market; with nearly 1,400 operators in the US and 500 in Europe. It is the last undigitized space in the travel market, with less than 5% of general aviation bookings happening online. OpenJet is accessible via OpenJet.com as well as through an exclusive partnership with Amadeus, the leading Global Distribution System (GDS) for travel service providers and agencies.