Charter 101: Private Jet Travel to South America

When it comes to private jet travel, North America and Europe dominate. According to WingX, about three-fourths of all global business jet and turboprop flights in 2023 departed from North America, with Europe second on the list at 15%. No other region accounts for more than 3%.

Sao Paolo at dusk. Photo Credit: Christian Adams, The Image Bank / Getty Images

However, when analyzing the growth in those flights over a four-year period – starting right before COVID upended the travel world – the leader suddenly looks very different. Departures from airports in South America are the clear winner, increasing by more than 200% in 2023 from 2019. Change the starting date to 2020, 2021 or 2022, and South America remains the fastest-growing market.

While those numbers measure departures from sites in South America rather than arrivals to the continent from elsewhere, they highlight the region’s popularity as a travel destination. South America offers everything from unbelievable natural wonders and ancient ruins to spectacular celebrations and distinctive adventures. For private jet travelers in the U.S. looking for unforgettable vacations or key business meetings, South America can provide it all – without the significant jet lag that comes with jaunts to Europe or Asia. If the prospect of heading southward without having to wrestle with big airlines appeals to you, read on.

Local Company Makes Good

One indication of how normalized private jet travel is in a given country or region is the number of business jets registered there. As expected, the U.S. comes in at number #1 on that list, with almost 15,000 private jets, or about two-thirds of the worldwide market. Showing up next on the list in second place, however, is Brazil, with close to 3,000 “business aircraft” including turboprops.

Rio de Janeiro seen from Corcovado at sunset, Brazil. Photo Credit: Pavel Tochinsky, The Image Bank / Getty Images

Brazil’s high ranking on the list is driven at least in part by its location as the headquarters of Embraer SA, the third-largest civil airplane manufacturer in the world (after Boeing and Airbus). Founded in 1969 by the Brazilian government to further the development of domestic aerospace technology, Embraer started with military aircraft for the company’s air force, but soon branched out into non-military aviation.

After its privatization in 1994, the company began producing business jets, eventually competing with heavy hitters such as Airbus, Bombardier, Dassault and Gulfstream. According to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, Embraer’s Phenom 300 was the most-flown business jet among U.S. airports from June 2023 to May 2024, with almost 375,000 takeoffs and landings. And it’s not just U.S. customers seeking to fly Embraer private jets – the company announced its 250th business jet delivery in Latin America in 2020, and sales have only grown since then.

“We had a strong sales momentum in the first quarter because demand for private travel is strong, and demand for the industry-leading products in the segments we serve is strong,” Embraer Executive Jets President and CEO Michael Amalfitano told Aviation Week in May 2024.

Know the Rules

For those looking to travel by private jet in South America, the possibilities for destinations are endless – and fascinating. The continent offers the world’s longest mountain system (the Andes), driest place (the Atacama Desert) and longest river (the Amazon – not to be confused with the world’s largest online retailer). The wide geographic variation in the region has produced a level of biodiversity unique in the world. Rain forests, beaches, ski resorts, vineyards – travelers can pick and choose.

Dirt track leading to the Salar de Tara salt flat, located 4,300m altitude in Los Flamencos National Reserve at the Atacama desert, Chile. Photo Credit: Pavel Tochinsky, The Image Bank / Getty Images

However, just as visitors must be aware of variety in environment, variety in rules and regulations is important to know as well. Countries in South America have agreements and treaties with one another, but not the same type of overarching regulatory structure found in the U.S. or E.U.

“Every country is different with their requirements for landing permits,” says Marcela White, co-founder of charter operator Tavaero Jet Charter in Houston, Texas. “That can be a 24-hour process or a 72-hour process, and nothing much happens on the weekends. You’ve got to factor in time to get those permits and have civil aviation departments approve them, and you need to be very specific with your operator about why you’re going and what your intent is.”

Looking to fly across multiple countries? You’ll need overflight permits. Want to fly into a country, pick up a friend, and continue on to a nearby city – i.e., engage in cabotage? That might work in Chile, but not in most other South American countries. White advises travelers to work with their charter partners to hire handling companies who can take care of all of the details. Some knowledge of the local language helps, too.

“Does one of your crew members or a cabin attendant speak Spanish?” White asks. “Many times, the guys on the ground do not speak a lick of English. It helps if you have a bilingual person.”

View of two beaches on Bartolome Island in the Galapagos Islands. Photo Credit: DC_Colombia, iStock / Getty Images Plus

For some trips, you may need to jump through even more hoops. “If you want to go hunting in Argentina, you can’t take in your own ammunition anymore,” White mentions. “In Chile, if you want to go to the Galapagos Islands, you have to have a special disinfectant to kill any pests you may have brought from the U.S.”

A Little Too Much Adventure

Pests aren’t the only complication with trips to the Galapagos, White adds. For private jet jaunts, “normally, you go somewhere, you park, you wait until you’re ready to come home, and then you come back. There’s no parking at the Galapagos – you really have to drop off, come back to the mainland, and then return to pick passengers up again.”

For popular trips, the processes may be easy and the infrastructure solid. White says Tavaero’s most common bookings to South America are Argentina for hunting and Brazil for fishing. However, for those who want an experience off the beaten path, the options may be a little more extreme than travelers prefer.

“On one of our fishing trips to Brazil, our passenger had his own guide, who had him transfer to a small local turboprop to travel to the camp from which they’d be departing,” White recalls. “We got a call from the passenger asking if we could come pick him up, so he could avoid the turboprop. However, that airport required planes to have a Portuguese-speaking navigator on board, which we didn’t have. We hired one in-country and got the client out on his preferred aircraft.”

Safe From Harm

Travelers to South America, however they arrive, must contend with an unfortunate concern – security. As per the Financial Times, “the region registers close to 40 percent of the world’s murders despite being home to only 9 percent of the global population.” While this statistic was included in an article from five years ago, not much has changed in the interim. In late 2023, the nonpartisan think tank The Brookings Institution asserted that “even countries where previously violence was low, such as Chile and Uruguay, are experiencing new challenges.”

Does this mean you should forego all thoughts of adventuring down south? Absolutely not. However, it does mean taking steps that may not be necessary in other travel destinations.

“In South America, you have higher security concerns than for much of Europe,” White mentions. “You need to consider which measures may be necessary. Are you going to hire a security guard? Who has that person been trained by?”

Travelers don’t avoid these matters by staying away from large cities. “If you’re in a small town, everyone’s going to know a private jet just landed,” White points out. “Where is the crew going to stay? Are we restricting them to the hotel, or allowing them to walk around? As a crew, you need to be very aware of where you are and who you’re with.”

Crime isn’t the only issue that can affect your well-being while in the region. “You’re not worried about vaccinations or malaria pills in Europe, but you should be in South America,” White says. “Tetanus, typhus, dengue fever – all of those may be concerns. Also, is your health insurance going to work in South America, and will it pay for transportation out if needed?”

While private jet travelers with extensive travel experience in South America may feel comfortable with a wide variety of charter companies, others will want to prioritize those who have a long track record of successful journeying to the region. “It is a higher-level travel risk,” White asserts. “Is there going to be a coup all of a sudden you don’t know about? That’s a higher-risk consideration than if you’re going to Europe or the Caribbean.”

Café Maravilloso

With the right preparation, however, private jet travelers can enjoy trips to South America that are perfectly safe – and perfectly delightful. For a recent New Year’s trip arranged by Tavaero, White served as a cabin attendant on a flight to the Eje Cafetero in Colombia, the site of the country’s best coffee farms. “We did more due diligence than usual,” White recounts. “It turns out that they have tons of traffic – Spirit Airlines comes in.”

Historical district of Cartagena, Colombia. Photo Credit: atosan, iStock / Getty Images Plus

In addition to enjoying one-of-a-kind coffee, Tavaero’s passengers attended a NYE celebration in the historic city of Cartagena (founded in the 16th century), spent time on the shore and went horseback riding in the mountains. It was the type of trip that highlights how South America’s diversity and range can provide marvelous adventures for private jet travelers – with the proper precautions.

“With the right amount of money, you can get a lot of stuff done in South America,” White says. “But we don’t know what we don’t know – it’s crucial that passengers explain exactly what they’re doing in advance.”