Jetting off

Good afternoon, friends. Today’s sign of the times is how much more expensive it has become for private jet charters in and out of Saudi Arabia.

A Riyadh-Geneva private jet charter that went for about EUR 60k before King Khalid International closed on 10 October is now fetching EUR 94k, with charter prices out of the Kingdom up more than 50% and war-risk premiums stacked on top, operators and brokers tell the Financial Times. Charters to Europe are reaching USD 150k and even UAE hops are going for USD 30-50k, EnterJets founder Charles Robinson said. Supply is doing most of the work.

The airport reopened on Sunday, flights still need case-by-case GACA permission, and several international carriers remain suspended. FII10’s move to 2027 takes out the week that would have tested all of this hardest, with Reuters having already shifted its NEXT Gulf conference to October 2027. The charter market is pricing a thin schedule rather than a full one, so the real test of capacity comes as the long-haul carriers return through November.

Meanwhile, Freshfields is learning the hazards of putting your inside thoughts on an email chain: Freshfields has apologized “unreservedly” for a comment about Middle Eastern sovereign wealth investors in a leaked email chain, the Financial Times reports. Global managing partner Alan Mason and US corporate and M&A co-head Ethan Klingsberg were discussing a spinout of the firm’s legal AI unit, which they reckoned could be worth bns with outside investors.

The mea culpa: Klingsberg wrote that they would approach “sophisticated investors that are respected by the rest of the investor community for their leadership,” which “probably” ruled out “Middle Eastern sovereign wealth money.” Mason then forwarded the exchange to a large internal distribution list, and recipients took screenshots before the recall. The firm said the comment “does not reflect the position or beliefs of the firm,” that it holds its Middle East clients “in the highest regard” and that it has “enormous respect for the discerning leadership and global impact of our clients.” Freshfields has offices in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, and has worked for the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, the Qatar Investment Authority, Kuwait Finance House and DP World. –Salma