ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the increasingly important role of private aviation as a means of travel and shows how the sector is transforming the mobilities of a small but significant number of travellers. It outlines the decision of how to fly is based on a number of interlocking factors, including, but not limited to, convenience, price, and comfort. While research into the different facets of air transport has reached new heights of analytical sophistication in recent years, the social and cultural dimensions of air travel remain under-researched and theorized. Geographers have traditionally described the spatial patterns of air transport as network, with flows of air traffic linking airports that stand as gateways to global city-regions. Air travel has been seen as a major enabler and beneficiary of the demand for international business travel. The world's business aviation fleet currently exceeds, and the market represents one of the fastest-growing sectors of the aviation industry.
