A charter is an irregular, one-time air flight, which is organized by travel agencies together with the carrier during the period of increased tourist demand. A distinctive feature of a charter flight is a low ticket price.
The word “charter” was borrowed from the English language: in translation “charter” means “agreement”. Even before the advent of aviation in navigation, charters were contracts for the chartering of a vessel for one or several voyages with an indication of the place of loading and destination.
Air charter has arisen due to the increased tourist demand for certain air destinations during vacations and holidays. In parallel with regular flights, airlines began to organize charter flights, concluding agreements with customers-tour operators. The peculiarity of charters is that they operate on a round-trip basis, that is, they transport passengers from point A to point B and immediately board new ones at point B and fly with them to point A.
The undoubted advantages of charters include their low cost of tickets compared to regular flights of airlines. The pricing policy is explained by the high passenger traffic: as a rule, charter flights during the tourist season are packed to capacity, and almost all tickets are still bought in advance by travel agencies and sold to customers in one tour package with a voucher. However, single travelers can also fly by charter if there are free seats for the flight. However, the purchase of such tickets involves some risk: according to the rules of transportation, tickets for charter flights are non-refundable, even if the flight is canceled.
Passengers should take into account that the departure time of charters very often changes at the last moment, since all airports first serve the air machines of regular flights, releasing them on the airfield in the first place. According to the General Rules for the Carriage of Passengers and Luggage by Air, in this case, the airline representatives are required to offer customers soft drinks (if the flight is delayed by two hours), hot meals (if the flight is delayed by four hours) and a hotel room (after an eight-hour wait).
