During July, August and September 2020, Jung Sky, a Croatian business aviation operator based in Zagreb, achieved the most successful quarter in its history, overthrowing the previous record-holding quarter by 11.5 per cent in revenue and 21 per cent in passenger flights. It entered its 12th year in the business in November.

During Q3, Jung Sky crews performed flights to a total of 115 airports across 28 countries, with the French Riviera's Nice and Croatia's Dubrovnik and Split on top of the table with most arrivals and departures.

“We're glad it proved we were right when we spread optimism in May, and we're proud of how our team performed from day one of the pandemic,” comments co-owner and board member Vedran Jung. “Q3 not only gave us some breathing room after a harsh lockdown period in April and May, but it also put us back on track in terms of our business plans. Actually, in the first nine months, 2020 was by a margin of 0.7 per cent the best year so far.”

The company's management hoped they could end the year with a perfect Christmas present – a new jet to add to the current two-jet fleet – but the risks and uncertainty caused by the coronavirus crisis were too immense, so they postponed their plans for a couple more months.

“We need to make our clients' lives as simple as possible," Jung continues. “We remain determined to get it done around spring next year, but we will keep assessing the situation to find the best timing. A third jet is definitely the next step and it's not just about adding new crew members. A third aircraft would give our flight operations more flexibility and adaptability and would set this company on a course of approximately 50 per cent revenue growth. So fleet expansion plans would definitely be followed with further strengthening and upgrades of all company departments.”

Lockdowns and travel restrictions are again a big issue in Europe, and they are once again deeply affecting daily operations in business aviation. “Being much more flexible with the flight schedule and the number of airports it covers, business aviation definitely fights the crisis on more solid ground. However, because of the lockdowns, health concerns and the uncertainty of what will happen tomorrow, travel plans are being changed or cancelled on an hourly basis,” Jung emphasises. “Each flight request is once again a complex story with lots of details, and not all of them are in our control. But it's very important for us to make our clients' lives as easy and simple as possible, which means regular cleaning and disinfection of our aircraft, looking after the health of our employees and crew members, maintaining the highest standards of quality, helping our clients gather information about restrictions or necessary travel procedures in their regions of interest and, inevitably, adjusting our cancellation policies to be more in favour of the passengers.”

Jung Sky currently operates with two of its own Cessna 525A CJ2 aircraft and performs between 1,200 and 1,300 flights per year. The flights are carried out by two-pilot crews and the company has a total of nine pilots in its team. Flight operations include almost 400 airports across Europe and northern Africa.