Some of the world's wealthiest and most powerful people traveled to Switzerland this week, to attend the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos. That meant some of the world's fanciest aircraft descended on nearby airports, too. Business Insider has been tracking the private jets and government aircraft that arrived there this week. On Monday alone, there were around 160 private jet arrivals from over 40 countries spread across five continents.
Business Insider tracked at least 157 private jets that arrived near the Alpine town, using data from ADS-B Exchange and JetSpy, which track FAA-registered aircraft. More than half of the flights tracked landed at Zurich International Airport. Another 45 came into Friedrichshafen, a German city on the shore of Lake Constance, just over the Swiss border. The rest were spread across other smaller airports in Switzerland.
Like wildebeest migrating across the plains of East Africa or monarch butterflies flying thousands of miles south every winter, billionaires are a remarkably predictable breed. The world's nearly 3,000 billionaires follow a familiar annual circuit: cruising between vacation spots on superyachts, jetting to marquee sporting events, and suiting up for the same closed-door business conferences. "Birds of a feather flock together," Doug Gollan, the founder of Private Jet Card Comparison, told Business Insider.
Rain is expected to return to the Bay Area late Wednesday afternoon and early Wednesday evening, sticking around until Thursday, and bringing some pretty significant wind gusts too. Though as our intrepid KGO weather forecaster Drew Tuma points out, for a brief period early this morning, SF was actually one the warmest major cities in the continental United States. [KTVU]
Just a thought. In September 2023, he told Steve Bannon's War Room: Go take their money. Chris Wray doesn't need a private jet. We're not the guys running around on private jets and somebody maybe in Congress should ask for how many flights on a private jet Director [James] Comey took, or my predecessor, Director Wray took, and how many personal trips they took,
Flexjet's Chairman Club event, is one of the perks you get for dropping at least six figures a year on a jet program. Other destinations have included Anguilla and Lake Como. Flexjet and other private jet operators are touting wine tastings at vineyards not typically open to the public, suites at a Formula 1 Grand Prix and the Super Bowl, facials at 40,000 feet, and menus created by top chefs like Nobu Matsuhisa.
A futuristic £14.5million plane with TV screens instead of windows has been unveiled. The jet, called Phantom 3500, will use technology on the outside of the plane to provide immersive views. The creators, Otto Aerospace, plan to launch the aircraft in 2027. It also features an ultra-smooth exterior, which enhances the laminar flow of the plane - significantly reducing drag and increasing fuel efficiency and performance.
Celebrities are arriving in Venice for Jeff Bezos' and Lauren Sánchez's wedding, with notable figures like Kim Kardashian, Oprah Winfrey, and Diane von Furstenberg landing via private jets.
After becoming the sixth golfer to complete a career grand slam with his win at the Masters, Rory McIlroy's private jet departed Augusta the next day.
