The best corporate retreats begin long before the first glass of champagne is poured on a sun-drenched hotel terrace. For a leadership team leaving London for three days in the Dolomites, Mallorca or the South of France, the journey absolutely sets the tone for the type of trip that is about to happen (a commercial plane with limited leg room might not be the most exciting experience).
A Retreat in Mallorca Is an Altogether Different Proposition to One in the Dolomites
In Europe, teams have many options beyond the conventional conference hotel. There are Alpine lodges surrounded by snow-dusted peaks, sprawling Mediterranean estates built for private gatherings and grand hotels where strategy sessions can be followed by Michelin-starred dinners.
However, it’s obvious that the more secluded the setting, the more complicated the journey can become, and sometimes commercial planes won’t fly to the remote area you’re headed to. In this situation, it may be worth looking into the best private jet hire to make the trip more convenient.
When comparing commercial to private flights, location is the first thing to consider. For example, Mallorca works remarkably well for a corporate escape. Palma de Mallorca Airport is one of Spain’s busiest gateways, meaning a London-based team has a healthy choice of scheduled flights before making the relatively short transfer to hotels and private estates across the island. This is a trip that would make sense for commercial travel.
The Dolomites present a more interesting logistical puzzle.Take FORESTIS, the striking mountain retreat sitting 1,800 metres above sea level in South Tyrol. Guests arriving commercially from London can fly into airports including Innsbruck, Verona, Venice or Munich before completing the journey by road. FORESTIS lists transfer times of approximately 90 minutes from Innsbruck, two hours from Verona and three and a half hours from Munich.
For a holiday, the drive through the mountains might be part of the pleasure. For a 12-person executive team with only three days away from the office, those hours begin to look rather different.
It is here that the destination, not just the aircraft, starts deciding how the group should travel.
First Class Works Beautifully When the Route Does Too
Travelling commercially at the premium end of the cabin has plenty of benefits.
At Heathrow, eligible British Airways First passengers have access to dedicated First check-in and security facilities at Terminal 5, while the airline’s Concorde Room offers private cabanas, dining and quieter spaces before departure. For a small leadership team travelling on a well-served route, the process can be impressively civilised.
Scheduled aviation is particularly difficult to argue against when a direct service already delivers the group close to the hotel. A retreat in Madrid or Paris, for example, does not necessarily require a more complicated solution. Everyone can meet in the lounge, board the same flight and have a car waiting at the destination.
The Luxury of Avoiding the Three-Hour Transfer
Private aviation becomes more appealing when the chosen hotel is far from commercial airport hubs.
Europe has a dense network of regional airports beyond its major international hubs. For a corporate group heading to a remote resort, landing closer to the final destination can remove a connection or lengthy road transfer from each end of the trip.
Consider the Côte d’Azur. Nice Côte d’Azur Airport provides excellent scheduled access for retreats around Nice, Cannes and Monaco. Move farther into Provence, however, and smaller airports can create alternative ways of approaching the region. The same principle applies to Alpine retreats, Tuscan estates and Mediterranean islands.
On a two-hour European sector, a faster flight may make a tiny difference in airborne time. But using a private jet can reduce time spent at airports, during check-in, and on the road to and from the airport.
Saving 20 minutes in the air is largely irrelevant. Removing three hours of travelling after landing is not.
The Size of the Group Affects Flight Options
The familiar comparison between a £300 airline ticket and the cost of chartering an aircraft becomes less useful when an entire leadership team is travelling.
A corporate retreat might involve ten or 12 senior employees, each requiring a premium commercial fare. Add airport transfers, baggage costs where applicable, lounge requirements and the working time spent navigating the journey, and the difference needs to be considered at group rather than individual level.
In addition to airfare, it costs time. If 12 senior executives lose an additional three hours each travelling through a hub and transferring to a remote resort, the company has effectively committed another 36 executive hours to reaching the retreat.
For companies spending significantly on a corporate trip, protecting the time everyone has together can become part of the investment.
Then There’s the Question of What Happens on Board
Commercial premium cabins win decisively on certain long-haul luxuries.
An airline’s first-class suite can offer a fully flat bed, extensive entertainment, elaborate dining and levels of personal space difficult to reproduce on a smaller private aircraft. For an overnight journey from London to Singapore, those features make a big difference.
A two-hour flight to a European retreat has different priorities. Here, on-board comfort might not matter as much as privacy and saving time.
Keeping the leadership group within one cabin can allow conversation to begin before arrival. Depending on the aircraft, tables and facing seats create a more social environment than conventional airline seating, while the absence of other passengers gives the group greater privacy.
This can be more comfortable than regrouping at baggage reclaim.
Final Thoughts
For a retreat in a major European city or resort with plentiful direct flights, commercial premium travel remains compelling, and would probably make the most sense financially. The infrastructure already exists, the onboard experience can be excellent and there may be little reason to complicate matters.
Perhaps the most useful way to choose is to work backwards from the hotel rather than forwards from the airport. Find the extraordinary property first. Look at the nearest airports, calculate the real door-to-door journey and consider how many people are travelling. Only then compare the options.
After all, if the purpose of taking a leadership team away is to give them more valuable time together, spending extra hours in transit defeats the point.