When and
Where to Fly

October through April is the comfortable window, cool enough to walk archaeological complexes and desert sites, and it is also the peak, so aircraft and hotels tighten. May through August is considerably hotter, particularly in Upper Egypt, and works best for the Red Sea coast. The shoulder months of October and April give the best balance of weather, availability and crowds.

The movement builds through the rainy months from roughly July to October, when over two million animals cross between the Serengeti and the Maasai Mara. The Mara River crossings are what most visitors come for. Camps inside the reserves book out well ahead of it, so the aircraft is rarely the binding constraint on this trip.

Because slots, parking and daylight all bind at once. Mykonos has run slot restrictions for private aircraft from May to October since 2016, jets drop passengers and reposition rather than park, and helicopter transfers are daylight only. In October the same routing is straightforward.

Zurich handles the international arrivals but leaves roughly a two hour drive. Samedan is general aviation only and about thirty minutes closer, but it is the second highest airport in Europe and its weather closes the door more often than anyone would like. An itinerary through Samedan needs a Zurich or Geneva alternate held in reserve rather than assumed.

For the fixed-date events, considerably further than for ordinary travel. Davos, the Monaco Grand Prix, Cannes, Art Basel and the major tournaments all draw demand into the same days, and it is aircraft availability and airport parking rather than price that runs out first. Weeks to months, not days.

Not usually. Jets reach the regional airport and turboprops or light aircraft fly the bush strips near the camps, which is why access rather than speed defines a safari itinerary. Flights out of Nairobi Wilson put you close to the camps, and helicopters and balloon flights are arranged from the same base.

It is the region where it changes the trip most, because the outer islands are poorly served by scheduled flights and connections through the hubs eat a day at each end. Nassau is the main gateway for the Bahamas, and smaller aircraft reach the family islands directly.

There is no single peak, there are several regional ones stacked through the year: the Swiss winter calendar in January and February, the Mediterranean from June to September, the Gulf event season through the winter, and the Christmas and New Year period almost everywhere. Your destination decides which one you are competing with.

Usually yes, and it should be arranged with the flight rather than after it. The nearest airport to an American or Alpine ski resort is often still a meaningful drive, and in winter the drive is the part that varies. Ask for the transfer time in current conditions, not the map distance.

By matching aircraft capacity to the group rather than the cabin to the passenger. That runs from turboprops for short hops through to narrowbody and widebody charters for 50 to 200 or more. The hard part is rarely the aircraft; it is fixed fixture dates, kit, and cross-border routing on short notice.