'Take me out': Demand for private jet flights out of Israel surges

Demand for charter flights including private jets costing up to $50,000 a trip is mounting as people rush to get out of Israel, the CEO of Switzerland-based LunaJets told Reuters on Friday. Deadly attacks on Israel by Hamas militants have been followed by Israeli retaliatory bombardment on Gaza and a build-up of tanks around its border. Some governments such as the United States, France and Germany are evacuating citizens by charter flights but some planes are full and others have been cancelled as airlines wrestle with the risks. "They are all immediate requests. We need to go, we need to get out. It's not about, you know, I'm ready to fly at 2 p.m. on Tuesday. It's how soon can we go?" Eymeric Segard, CEO and founder of private jet broker LunaJets, told Reuters. Often passengers are not worried about any particular destination, saying only somewhere in central Europe. "They just say: ‘Take me out’," he said. In a typical week, the Geneva-based firm would operate one or possibly two Tel Aviv charter flights but it plans 10 this week carrying some 500 passengers, he said, including to destinations like Paris, Dubai and Geneva. The firm has also had flight requests out of Amman, Jordan, and Beirut, Lebanon.<br/>