On-demand private charter provider PrivateFly has reported increased demand for transcontinental, long haul evacuations and repatriations and has seen long range and super midsize aircraft performing 34 per cent of its flights (versus 18 per cent in Q1).

With clients in a hurry to navigate impending lockdowns or travel restrictions, lead times got shorter. 60% of flights were booked to fly within a week, and 23 per cent the same or next day (versus 15 per cent last year).

Tuesday, March 17 was the company's busiest day for take-offs in the quarter, as global repatriation flight demand peaked.

New York City remained PrivateFly's top global destination, with London number one in Europe. But the company experienced a more diverse destination list overall, undertaking repatriation flights to many different parts of the world.

Adam Twidell says: “By mid-February and throughout March, we moved into primarily arranging different types of flights: Many more evacuations and repatriations, many of which were long range, rather than business or leisure trips.

“This first quarter was very busy for us, with flight activity in March exceeding the previous year by some margin, and enquiries exceptionally high. But the weeks and months ahead are set to be a challenging time for us, along with the whole industry.”