A private plane charter firm has come up with a novel way of plotting where the wealthy are buying property across Europe.
Instead of looking at prices and housing markets, the firm has plotted the most popular flight destinations of customers who fly around Europe by air taxi.
Adam Twidell, chief executive of PrivateFly, said: “The number of trips to key European property destinations on private jets has soared over the past year, an indication of the relative perceived safe haven of investing in bricks and mortar in the uncertain climate of the Eurozone.”
He added that a growing number of their clients are linked to the real estate world and travel regularly to inspect their property portfolios and use private planes to get around quicker as they can visit several properties in one day.
Europe’s top private airports
The firm took an analysis by accountancy giant PwC and the Urban Land Institute and compared their results to where the growth in private plane traffic was heading.
PrivateFly say there is a clear link between the top 10 hotspots and the destinations of 3,000 of Europe’s busiest private airports last year.
The top three airports popular with property investors are:
- Paris – A business and political hub as well as tourist destination, the French capital is Europe’s busiest city for private jets. A return flight from London costs £4,000.
- London – increasingly seen by international property Investors as a real estate safe haven, private planes head for Luton, which is open 24 hours. Fourth busiest airport. Return flights from Moscow cost £26,000.
- Zurich – Popular for business and shopping, Zurich is a real estate hotspot because the Swiss Franc is seen as a safe currency. Fifth busiest airport. A return flight from London: £6,000.
They are followed in the list by Moscow, the world’s sixth busiest airport -a flight from London can cost £26,000.
Flights of fancy
Next up is Munich, which has a fast expanding biotech industry coupled with restricted property supply and growing tourism, eleventh busiest airport; a flight from London can cost £6,000.
Then comes Berlin, which has a high number of tech firms, the world’s 17th busiest airport with flights from London costing £6,000; Istanbul, eased foreign property ownership rules, 18th busiest airport with a flight from London costing £21,000; Hamburg, Germany’s second biggest city is seen as a safe haven, 25th busiest airport with flights from London costing £5,000; Warsaw, strong economy and property hotspot, 36th busiest airport with London flights costing £11,500; Stockholm, popular for its global appeal, 44th busiest airport with London flights costing £11,500.