Air charter technology company Flapper celebrates 30,000 clients

Focused on Latin America and Europe, the on-demand marketplace hit the milestone less than eight years after the launch of its operations.

Sao Paulo, Brazil, July 6, 2023 -- Flapper, the world’s leading air charter technology company, today celebrated flying its thirty-thousandth client globally, marking more than 320% growth in two years. To commemorate the milestone, Flapper Co-founder and CEO Paul Malicki surprised the passenger with a personalized gift before accompanying him onboard the flight at Rio de Janeiro’s general aviation airport. The football-themed merchandise was specially selected to reflect the client’s flight history, which included charter flights to the Copa Libertadores finals.

Headquartered in Brazil and with local operations throughout South America, Mexico, Florida, and Portugal, Flapper was launched in 2016, initially as a pay-per-seat helicopter booking app. It quickly pivoted to incorporate a full-fledged air charter offer, including private jets, corporate airliners, and turbo-props. Today, the rotary wings segment corresponds to just over 6% of its revenues, with the core business focused on international private jet charter and aircraft sales brokerage. Paul Malicki looks back on the early days of the company and how it positioned itself as a technology-powered alternative to the manual charter booking process:

“The initial idea centered on introducing the sharing economy to the underserved and ultra-conservative Latin American business aviation market. During the acceleration program with ACE Ventures, we uncovered that not a single company in the world had been profitably operating pay-per-seat flights with general aviation aircraft at scale. At the same time, the traditional business aviation charter was poised for digitization and the first few disruptors appeared on the US market. While we continued to offer limited shared flights, our focus shifted to the UHNI segment and this led us to where we are today, with the average ticket surpassing 30,000 USD. What hasn’t changed throughout all these years is that a typical charter flight still requires an average of 20 emails before it gets confirmed. The Flapper app simplifies this process: it reduces friction and increases transparency.”

More than 1,700 safety-vetted aircraft are available on the Flapper platform, with plans to reach 4,000 by the end of 2024. A dedicated team of so-called “Aircraft Hunters” actively searches for commercial jets, turbo-props, and helicopters, including those operating under Part 135 (commercial general aviation operations) and Part 121 (commercial airliners) certificates. Interested operators are typically offered an in-person visit by the local or regional commercial team before their inventory is uploaded to the system.

Flapper’s proprietary quotation system estimates the price of the charter flight, which the company claims can then be finalized in less than two hours. The automation module allows for near real-time flight confirmation and fast payments across a range of currencies, powered by a third-party anti-fraud system. Flapper also integrates with online systems of the local civil authorities – including Brazil’s ANAC – and automatically refreshes the aircraft’s airworthiness status. Future plans include integration with flight tracking software, as well as flight management systems, aiming to increase the accuracy of airplanes’ stated availability and current positions. The marketing is largely organic – as the inventory grows, so does Flapper’s online footprint, currently getting thousands of monthly organic visits to its mobile app and website.

Last year, Flapper announced the addition of the aircraft sales department, led by industry veteran Giampiero Colognori. The used aircraft marketplace is available within the same app and website, and features a curated list of more than 100 private jets and helicopters. The department does not concentrate exclusively on brokering aircraft sales, and the consultancy services offered include complete pre-sale checks, financing, and international aircraft transfer.

Although business aviation accounts for roughly 0.05% of global anthropogenic CO2 emissions, it is considered one of the hardest sectors to decarbonize. Building on the sector’s significant investment in the area of sustainability standards, Flapper’s management is committed to carbon neutral operations by 2035. To catalyze the entry of hybrid-electric aircraft to urban- and regional air mobility, Flapper has so far signed letters-of-intent with six leading OEMs. These include both the propulsion units for the conversion of carbon-burning aircraft (MagniX), as well as clean-sheet design hybrid-electric programs, such as the Embraer-backed Eve, Electra, and Jaunt Mobility.

In addition, Flapper will continue its goal of increasing fuel efficiency 8% per year between 2022 and 2035. The company argues that the future electrification and decarbonization of aviation can triple the size of the general aviation sector, offering access to new- and previously abandoned routes and landing spots as it promises a cheaper, environmentally friendly, and virtually noise-free alternative to existing modes of transportation.

Contact Info:
Name: Paul Malicki
Email: Send Email
Organization: Flapper
Address: Avenida Paulista 171, 01311-000, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Phone: +55 21 971 19 0066
Website: https://flyflapper.com/en

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