Business aviation passengers often focus on the trip in the air, but not the trip on the ground. Chauffeur companies such as Drivania (Booth W58) make sure that the comfort they experience in the air continues once they have landed. The Spanish company currently offers its services to business aviation customers in 190 countries with a majority of its services in 250 cities. By instilling its own security measures and partnering with flight-planning companies, Drivania makes sure passengers are safely transported to and from the tarmac.

Last year, Drivania partnered with RocketRoute, which offers flight planning for nonscheduled business and general aviation flights, and FL3XX, a platform designed for charter and scheduled airlines. These partnerships, along with a newer agreement with Leon Software, allow these companies' clients to access Drivania’s business aviation chauffeur services at the same time as their flight-planning services.

Integrating these platforms can streamline communication throughout the process of traveling. “I've got a lot of faith in these platforms because it's the future,” Frank Davidson, Drivania senior v-p of global sales, told AIN. “Emails and phone calls going back and forth cause disruption and a lot of headaches. The communication chain gets broken. I think all of these platforms that are coming out makes it easier for the client, the scheduler, the dispatcher, whoever's booking the different services. This makes it much easier and much more transparent.”

It also increases safety for the passengers. In November 2016, AIN reported that two Qatari sisters who flew into Le Bourget Airport in Paris on a private jet were robbed in their limousine while en route to the center of Paris. The two women and their driver were forced to pull over on the A1 and then were attacked with tear gas, allowing the robbers to steal property worth an estimated $5.3 million. At the time, a representative from the Jetex FBO at Le Bourget, which handled the sisters’ aircraft, told AIN that the company was not asked to arrange ground transportation for them.

Besides vetting their chauffeurs, Drivania takes extra safety measures for its passengers. Chauffeurs receive a phone call one hour before the service starts to go over the details of the trip including who they are picking up and the destination(s). The app used by all Drivania chauffeurs requires them to check in at least three times—once they are on location, once they pick up the passenger, and once they complete the trip. They must also check in with the FBO on site. All of this information can be forwarded to the clients who booked the trip, which may include the operator, charter broker, flight department, and sometimes even the pilot.

Through the online booking platform, passengers have the option of giving an alias or a specific password that the chauffeur must confirm with them for an added layer of security. In 60 percent of Drivania’s locations, passengers can use a geolocation feature through the mobile app to track their chauffeur to see when they are approaching to pick them up. Generally, Drivania does not track the trip itself but passengers can grant permission for people other than the operator or aircraft broker—family members or colleagues, for example—to track their location through a secure web link through the booking platform, which requires an authorized username and password to access.

Drivania pitches itself as a safer alternative to ridesharing apps like Uber or Lyft and private hire companies like Addison Lee, for business aviation passengers. “When it comes to our customer base, our clients like working with us because they know that beyond having the online booking platform where you can get a quote or a confirmation within a few seconds for a ride anywhere around the world, they know that there is a team behind that is actually on top of the service,” Davidson told AIN.