Business jets used by family offices have a variety of uses, including humanitarian and charitable purposes – a point that deserves more attention. In a new survey, ACJ, part of Airbus, shines a light on how wealthy families use these resources.

A survey of US-based family offices in the US who own or lease business aircraft finds that the vast majority (87 per cent) are open to using them for humanitarian and charitable purposes. 

The study, commissioned by Airbus Corporate Jets (ACJ), a division of Toulouse-headquartered Airbus, finds that 77 per cent of the family offices surveyed support local or national charities by giving them some access to their aircraft. Some 44 per cent of them say they support the Corporate Angel Network, which is a US-based 501 non-profit organization working with cancer patients to get best treatment by the use of free travel on corporate aircraft.

The research shows how the private and business aviation industry has evolved, drawing attention to important aspects of this sector. (To see a previous feature about ACJ by this publication, click here.)

In other findings, the ACJ survey found that of those US-based family offices interviewed that don’t make their aircraft available for good causes, half said it was because they have not appointed anyone to manage this, and 30 per cent say it is because they don’t have enough spare capacity to start using their aircraft for this purpose.

This news service recently interviewed Chadi Saade, the president of Airbus Corporate Jets, about the survey and the approach it takes to such issues.

However, of those interviewed who don’t currently make their aircraft available for charitable and humanitarian causes, 39 per cent say they hope to start doing so within the next two years, and 54 per cent say they hope to do so in the next two to three years.

Over the next three years, 9 per cent of US family offices surveyed say they expect the use of their business aircraft for good causes to increase significantly, and a further 67 per cent say they expect it to rise slightly.

A significant reason for family offices using their business aircraft more for humanitarian purposes is their growing focus on philanthropy. Over the next two years, 86 per cent say they plan to increase their budget for philanthropy – 12 per cent expect a significant rise.

Separately, 16 per cent of those surveyed say their budgets for philanthropic causes have increased significantly over the past three years, and 47 per cent say they have risen slightly. One in five (21 per cent) say they have stayed the same, and just 15 per cent believe they have fallen. One per cent say they didn’t know.

For those that have increased their budget for philanthropy in the past three years, 59 per cent say it has risen by between 20 and 30 per cent, and 19 per cent say it has increased by between 30 and 40 per cent.

To download a full copy of the report from ACJ, click here. 

Source: ACJ

Business aircraft
ACJ offers a range of large business aircraft. It recently launched ACJ TwoTwenty as part of a new market segment, called “The Xtra Large Bizjet.”

The ACJ TwoTwenty, Airbus says, offers twice the cabin real estate with strong fuel efficiency and reliability compared with similarly priced ULR business jets. It occupies the same parking footprint as competitive ULR jets and can take off from the same airports, but the ACJ TwoTwenty operating costs are one-third less, the manufacturer says. With a range of up to 5,650 nm (more than 12 flight hours), the ACJ TwoTwenty can meet the requirements of 99.9 per cent of all US departures (source: Airbus Corporate Jets analysis of WingX data, January 2024), and this connects city pairs such as Los Angeles to London, Miami to Buenos Aires, and New York to Istanbul. ACJ says more than 200 Airbus jets are in service around the world.

A view from the cockpit

Source: ACJ