Report Indicates Rising Demand for Charter

The charter market appears to be heating up as the traditionally busy summer season approaches. On May 31, the forward-looking demand index generated by online charter portal Avinode stood at 122.26-almost 52 points above the figure from a month earlier and five points above 2009's same-day index. Not surprisingly, charter prices are rising with demand, with May 31 rates up from a month earlier by 12.5 percent for a Cessna Citation Excel, 12.1 percent for a Hawker 800 and 11.8 percent for a Challenger 604. Avinode's price index for May 31 reflected caution as to whether these increases will continue, standing at 94.59-just over one point higher than on April 30 and just over one point lower than on May 31, 2009.