Formula 1 has signed a multi-year global partnership with Flexjet, appointing the fractional ownership operator as its Official Private Aviation Supplier and putting private jets at the centre of how the championship moves its executives, teams and guests between race weekends.
The deal launched at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, and it matters to UK business travellers for reasons beyond the paddock. Flexjet is one of the largest operators serving London’s business aviation airports, and a partnership on this scale signals where premium corporate travel spending is heading as companies weigh time savings against cost and carbon.
What the deal covers
Flexjet operates a fleet of more than 340 private jets, including one of the world’s largest collections of large-cabin aircraft. Under the agreement it will handle international connectivity for VIPs, executives and teams across the Formula 1 calendar, a schedule that now runs to two dozen races on five continents and demands the kind of rapid repositioning scheduled airlines cannot always provide.
Fractional owners also gain access to hospitality and behind-the-scenes experiences at selected Grands Prix through Flexjet’s Red Label programme. The two parties will produce a joint content series as part of the arrangement.
Kenn Ricci, Chairman of Flexjet, described the tie-up as a “natural alignment of two worlds in which both luxury aircraft and fast cars require absolute precision and flawless coordination to achieve success.” He added that the collaboration, alongside Flexjet’s ties with LVMH, would deliver “unparalleled, ultra-luxury experiences, both on the ground and in the air”.
Formula 1 President and CEO Stefano Domenicali said: “As a global championship we are constantly on the move… Having partners that support us on our mission to deliver the best sport, and an unforgettable show is vital to our ongoing success”.
The sustainability question
Flights under the partnership will be operated using Sustainable Aviation Fuel, which is the element UK corporate travel managers are most likely to scrutinise. Private aviation carries a heavier per-passenger emissions burden than scheduled flying, and any business booking charter or fractional hours is increasingly asked to show what is being done about it.
The wider picture is less comfortable. SAF remains scarce and expensive, and the UK’s SAF mandate fell short of its opening target, with no domestic production plant yet operating. Travel buyers signing off private aviation on sustainability grounds should ask operators precisely how SAF is being sourced and accounted for, because the industry uses a mix of physical uplift and certificate-based approaches that are not equivalent in practice.
What it means for SME travellers
Very few small and medium-sized businesses will charter a large-cabin jet to follow the F1 calendar. The relevance is in what the deal says about the market. Private aviation is being positioned as mainstream premium infrastructure rather than an indulgence, and that shift usually brings more capacity, more competition on price and more flexible entry points for occasional users.
For SMEs, the practical routes in remain jet cards, on-demand charter and discounted empty leg flights, where a repositioning aircraft can be booked at a fraction of the full charter rate. Demand around major sporting fixtures tends to push those rates up sharply, so anyone planning travel around a Grand Prix, a Ryder Cup or a Test match should book well ahead or avoid the peak days entirely.
The commercial logic for Flexjet is straightforward. Formula 1’s audience skews heavily towards the executive demographic that buys fractional aircraft hours, and a season-long presence at 24 races is a more efficient shop window than any advertising campaign. Full details are set out in the Formula 1 announcement and Flexjet’s own release.
