Can someone explain to me the absolute insane costs of charter flights in Africa? I mean this with all due respect.
General aviation is expensive everywhere. I paid about $1500 for my portion of for a 500 mile flight in Alaska, six of us in a twin engine piper. Also, about $1,000 for a 200 mile trip in a float plane in the Yukon in a single engine piper, with just me and another hunter. The plane operator basically has to make two round trips, sometimes taking other others out or sometimes deadheading empty with no paying passenger or cargo.
The workhorse plane in Africa is the Cessna Caravan, which is a large, single turbine powered engine. They hold 9-10 passengers. Cost to buy a used one is over $1 million.
Here's some cost info, but it's based on $5/gal fuel. I bet in Africa it's closer to twice that.
https://blog.wepushtin.com/blog/5-cheapest-turboprops-operate/
Cessna 208B Grand Caravan
Cessna’s single-engine, single-pilot certified 208B Grand Caravan, their largest single-engine aircraft to date, has been around since 1982. It burns 50 gallons of fuel per hour, which, at $5 per gallon, is $250.00 per hour. Maintenance on a Grand Caravan is estimated to cost $201.64 per hour. Combining fuel and maintenance costs equals $451.64 per hour in direct operating costs. At 200,000 miles, or 989 hours with a cruise speed of 177 knots, that’s $445,671.96 annually.
A Grand Caravan pilot is estimated to make $68,250.00 annually, a hangar is expected cost $28,762.50, insurance is expected to cost $12,285.00, and pilot training is expected to cost $8,580.00, totaling $117,877.50 in fixed annual costs.
Annual Direct: $446,671.96
Annual Fixed: $117,877.50
Annual Total: $564,549.46