Aircraft charter specialist Air Charter Service had a record-breaking year in 2025, with 35,467 charter flights, but there are some other impressive numbers behind that statistic.
CEO Justin Bowman says: “Last year we arranged over 35,000 flights, more than ever before, but many other records got broken along with that. For instance, ACS-chartered aircraft flew into or out of 2,323 IATA or ICAO recognised airports last year, along with hundreds more non-designated airfields, such as dirt runways, ice runways, helipads and even water landings. These airports spanned 206 separate countries; to put the number into perspective, American Airlines operates to 350 destinations in 63 countries, which is more than any other international airline.
“We couldn't have chartered any of these without the wonderful airlines and operators that we work with. Last year we joined forces to book aircraft with 1,348 of them on behalf of our clients. Our charters were on aircraft ranging from helicopters, all the way up to Airbus A380s and the huge Antonov 124 cargo aircraft, with a total of 4,718 separate aircraft and 389 different types in 2025.
“On the passenger side, in 2025 we transported 437,368 passengers. The most popular private jet was the Phenom 300, with more than 430 flights on the aircraft type.
“On cargo aircraft, we transported almost 90,000 tons of freight, with an average of just over 20 tonnes per flight. The Boeing B747-400F was the most popular cargo aircraft, with more than 350 operations carried out, some with payloads of over 100 tons.
“And in the second half of last year we reached the milestone number of 40 offices. These operations span six continents and 20 countries and our team now numbers more than 800 professionals.”