Can a Private Jet Fly in the Snow?

Snow is undoubtedly one of the weather conditions that heavily impact a scheduled flight, whether on the regular airplane or on the privately chartered planes. However, the level of the impact of snow on the privately chartered planes is hugely lifted as compared to that in the public air transport. Private jets, advantageously, can do much better in extreme weather conditions like snowy winters, for instance. So, to answer the question, yes, a private jet can fly in the snow. You will be surprised that it is not that it has many features to it that the public airplane does not have, but it is what permissions that are granted to the private jets and are not granted to the public airplane. Read on to know-how.

Reasons the Private Jet Can Fly in the Snow

Private jets have access to more airports and more especially those that are less affected by snow. Take for example Europe, where privately chartered planes have access to approximately three thousand airports to pick from. On the other side, public airlines only can use three hundred airports. Since the temperature variations can differ greatly from location to location, some airports may be hard hit by snow more than others within a given region. As such, the private jets can change route and take off from the less affected airports as opposed to the public airlines that do not have that privilege. On top of that, in the smaller airports, the airplanes are kept in the hangars out of the cold to make way for takeoffs and landings as there is limited space. Because of this, when it snows, de-icing and snow clearing is much faster than in the major airports where planes can be parked in the open and subject to more grounding by the snow.

Private jets have an allowance for more flexible flight schedules. Upon hiring your private airplane, you always need to specify departure time and the route to be taken. If anything happened to threaten the schedule, either you or the pilot can come up with a different plan to counter the first. If snow is predicted to start falling at 1600 hours, you can decide to fly out earlier to beat the snow and arrive earlier than planned. Public airlines d no have this option, they go with strict timelines and those can easily be messed up by the weather changes. On top of that, if the route you intended to use is hit by snow, you have the ability to change the route together with the pilot, so that you arrive at your destination from a different angle. Again, for the public airlines, the specified route is what must be followed to the latter.

With a private jet, you avoid log ques and ground congestion at the airport due to weather. Private jets usually have a separate terminal referred to as FBO that has the private jets come in and leave separately from the rest of the airplanes. The terminals are fully equipped with fast security checks and VIP lounges that ensure no crowds at any given point in time. Since you need to arrive at the airport fifteen minutes before your departure tie, you do not get to spend too much time waiting for takeoff. If you happen to have a delay for any reason, you get to stay warm or even can work from the VIP lounge, or relax therein until your flight is ready. Public airlines do not have this luxury, and the passengers end up waiting long hours for takeoff, even when it is not their flight affected by weather or otherwise.

The private planes pick up faster and can get back to business as soon as it is required of them. As outlined earlier, private jets are parked safely away in the hangars. If they are grounded because of extreme snow or otherwise, it is a lot easier to de-ice them once the snow begins to thaw. As soon as they have clearance, private jets are always fast in picking up and taking off. On the other hand, the public airplanes are parked outside in the airport, and when snow falls, the ice falls on them and keeps accumulating. By the time snowfall stops, your flights will not kick off immediately, because time will be needed to de-ice the crafts and get them ready to fly again. As such, your flight might still be delayed even long after the snow has thawed away. The convenience that comes with the private jets remains uncontested.

Helicopters can come in handy for private clients. Let us say the snowfall takes longer than anticipated, or even longer to clear out. Private customers still have the option of chartering helicopters to fly them to their desired destinations just as fast and efficiently. If the runways are covered completely by snow, then taking off can be greatly hindered both for the private jets and the public airplanes. At this point, all that the customers can do is wait indefinitely. But the helicopters can save the private clients as they can be chartered too. It is a lot easier to clear off snow for a small heliport for the helicopter to land and take off than it is for the large planes. Besides, the helicopters have very minimal landing and taking off restrictions that can make them a better option for the extremely snowy days.