Aircraft charter broker Air Charter Service (ACS) has recorded sales of US$770 million (€793 million) for the first half of its financial year (1 February to 31 July), an increase of 49 per cent on the same period last year.
The company reported that all three of its major divisions of cargo, private jets and group travel have outperformed last year’s figures, with 2022 set to overtake last year’s record revenue of $1.8 billion.
ACS founder and chairman, Chris Leach, said: “Over the past two years we’ve been fortunate enough to have been very successful, in no small part due to the diversity that our global presence and three main divisions gives us. Different divisions and regions peaked at different times over the last two years but, for this year so far, the peaks seem to have come all at once.”
The company reported a 56 per cent increase in sales for its private jet division compared to the same time last year, and an almost 25 per cent increase on pre-pandemic levels.
The company’s group travel division saw a 78 per cent increase in revenue, citing a “real return” of the MICE industry and sports team travel. “This has led to the growth of customer numbers back to pre-pandemic levels, ahead of forecast,” said Leach.
Meanwhile, the company’s cargo division generated 44 per cent more revenue than at the halfway point of 2021, but Leach expects this market to cool down “at some point”.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the year to date came in at a record $70.4 million – three times the amount reported for H1 2021, according to the company.
Looking ahead, Leach expects sales to level off in the second half of the year, but remains optimistic for future growth opportunities.
“We expect that much of the market will slow down in H2, and we do not expect to see anywhere near the level of growth we saw in H1. However, we expected the same for H1 of this year and look where we are, so I guess there is all to play for in the remainder of the year,” he said.