Private Aviation Ground Transportation for Charter Brokers and Flight Departments

A charter broker sells a flight. The passenger remembers the whole trip. If the aircraft lands on time and the car is nowhere to be seen, the broker hears about it first. Private aviation ground transportation is the part of the itinerary that most often gets handled by a text message the night before, and it is the part most likely to fail. Onroutz.ca is built to take that leg off the broker's desk.

This page is for charter brokers, flight departments, trip planners and family-office assistants. If you are a passenger booking your own car, the airport transfers service page is the better starting point.

What does private aviation ground transportation include?

A complete ground plan covers six things:

1. The pickup point. The FBO building, a lot beside it, or a place agreed with airport operations.
2. The timing. Linked to the aircraft's progress, not to a printed schedule.
3. The vehicle. Matched to the passenger count and the baggage.
4. The manifest. Who is travelling, under what name, with what instructions.
5. The contingency. What happens if the aircraft diverts, lands at a different airport or leaves early.
6. The invoice. Addressed to the party that pays, with the passengers' names kept off it if the client wishes.

Onroutz.ca is a ground transport service. It does not operate aircraft or broker flights. The desk sits one step after the charter contract is signed and carries the passenger from the aircraft side to the street, or the reverse.

How an FBO changes the pickup

A fixed base operator is a business that an airport authority allows to serve general and business aviation. SKYbrary lists passenger lounges, baggage handling, customs assistance and ground transport among typical FBO services. At a commercial terminal, a car waits at a published curb. At an FBO, the rules belong to the FBO and the airport.

The practical consequences for a broker:

• Access varies by FBO. Some allow a vehicle to wait at the door, some use a controlled lot, and some will let a car drive closer to the aircraft when the airport permits it. Onroutz.ca asks the FBO before the day and records the answer.
• Names and tail numbers matter. FBO staff want the aircraft registration, the expected arrival time and the passenger names. The chauffeur wants the same, plus a phone number that works.
• Lounge waiting is common. Passengers may sit in the FBO lounge while customs finishes, so the chauffeur can wait inside or in the vehicle depending on the FBO's preference.
• Baggage goes through a different door. An FBO line crew often loads bags straight into the vehicle. Vehicle size should be chosen with that in mind.

The Toronto-specific version of this is on the Toronto Pearson FBO page, and the New York area version is on the Teterboro page. For the wider hub, see private aviation.

Customs and the first hour on the ground

A private flight does not arrive at a gate and walk through a hall. Customs clearance for general aviation happens on a different timetable, and a ground plan that ignores it creates avoidable waiting.

Arriving in Canada. CBSA's general aviation memorandum says the pilot must call the Telephone Reporting Centre at least two hours, and no more than 48 hours, before arrival. The pilot calls again immediately after landing, and the pilot and travellers must not leave the aircraft until advised. The memorandum also notes that private or corporate aircraft are eligible under this process with 15 or fewer passengers, crew included, with a separate rule for larger business aviation flights from the United States to eight listed airports.

Arriving in the United States. CBP's general aviation page says operators must transmit a manifest through eAPIS, and that the pilot must secure permission to land by contacting the CBP port of arrival directly before departing the foreign location. All passengers and crew must be on the manifest.

For a chauffeur, the meaning is simple. There is an interval between touchdown and the moment passengers are free to leave, and the length of that interval is not controlled by the car company. Flight tracking gives an early signal. A delayed customs officer or a late-opening port is not visible on a tracker. Waiting time is therefore built into the plan.

Onroutz.ca includes 60 minutes of free waiting after international landings and 30 after domestic landings. Those are the standard airport pickup terms, and the desk will discuss longer windows when a broker knows clearance is slow.

Matching the vehicle to the manifest

Private aviation passenger counts vary widely. A family office may send one principal and a spouse. A sports team may send eleven. The vehicle classes below are stated as "or similar", with the exact model confirmed at booking.

Bags are the usual surprise. Private aircraft cabins tolerate soft luggage more easily than airline cabins do, but a golf set, a camera case and three suitcases for two people can still outgrow a sedan. A broker who is unsure should give the desk the bag count and the type, not just the passenger count. See the fleet page for each class in more detail.

One booking for several legs

Private itineraries rarely end after one flight. A passenger might fly from Toronto to Teterboro, spend two days in Manhattan, fly to Nice and finish at a hotel on the coast.

Onroutz.ca puts multi-leg itineraries on one booking. In Toronto, the GTA and southern Ontario, the Onroutz.ca fleet and chauffeurs drive. Everywhere else, the ride is delivered by a vetted, licensed and commercially insured local transfer partner, and the Toronto desk books, confirms, supports and invoices the whole trip. The broker has one confirmation, one invoice and one 24/7 contact.

Benefits to a broker that has run this the hard way:

• One name on the invoice. A client's accounts team gets a single document, not four from four operators.
• One phone call when the schedule moves. The desk adjusts all the downstream legs.
• A consistent standard. Every partner car is within four model years of new, except Rolls-Royce, Bentley and Maybach, allowed up to seven.
• Clear scope. Onroutz.ca does not own cars or offices abroad, and will not suggest otherwise.

The regional hubs show the geography: Toronto, USA, Europe, Middle East and Asia-Pacific.

Flight tracking for aircraft that move

Airline flights publish schedules. Private flights publish intentions. A departure time can shift ahead of or behind the original by an hour because a passenger is late, because weather changes the routing, or because the crew wants to beat a curfew.

Flight tracking runs on every airport pickup at Onroutz.ca, and train and ship arrivals are tracked too. For private aircraft, the broker supplies the flight details or tail number the desk needs to follow the movement. The desk then watches the aircraft and adjusts the pickup time without waiting for a phone call.

Two habits help:

1. Send updates the moment you know them. A revised ETA from the operator is worth more than a tracker.
2. Tell the desk about alternates. If the aircraft could divert to a second airport, the desk can pre-position a car or at least a plan.

Reserve your car

Privacy for passengers and principals

Many private-aviation passengers have a reason to avoid being noticed. The privacy tools are straightforward.

• Alias name board. If the passenger is met inside a terminal, the board can carry an alias on request.
• Discretion. Photos of clients and posts about trips are off limits for chauffeurs; NDAs are available on request.
• Minimal manifests. The chauffeur sees what is needed for the pickup, not the whole itinerary.
• Invoice control. Corporate accounts with monthly invoicing allow charges to go to the broker, flight department or management company.

Onroutz.ca is not a security company. It does not provide armed drivers or bodyguards. It works alongside a client's own security team when one is present. The wider reasoning behind these rules is set out in the guide on why celebrities and VIPs book a discreet private car, and the VIP transportation page covers the service from the passenger's side.

Ground options from an FBO: how they compare

The chauffeured car wins when the schedule is tight, when the passengers are a group that should not be split, or when the broker needs a record of who was picked up and when. A rental car suits passengers who want to drive and are comfortable arriving in a new city. Rideshare is the least predictable at an FBO because access rules and pickup points depend on the airport.

Corporate accounts, invoices and changes

A broker or flight department typically wants three things from a ground provider: certainty, a paper trail and a single point of contact.

Certainty. The booker shows the fixed all-in fare for the exact pickup, drop-off and vehicle before you pay, so there is nothing to renegotiate on the day.

Paper trail. Corporate accounts come with monthly invoicing. A broker can consolidate a month of ground legs on one statement, and the confirmation for each booking carries the details the accounts team needs.

Single contact. The desk is open 24/7. A call at 2 a.m. about a diversion reaches a person with the itinerary in front of them.

Changes follow the standard schedule. For cancellations, more than 72 hours' notice carries no charge; 72 hours or less, 10%; 48 hours or less, 50%; and 24 hours or less or a no-show, 100%, counted from the scheduled pickup. Event bookings can carry their own deadline, always printed on the confirmation.

Book this transfer

For longer arrangements, the desk can talk through how to keep a corporate account active across a season. Start at the contact page or the travel desk.

Entry rules for passengers and crew

Ground transport does not replace entry paperwork, and a good broker checks it before the flight. Visa-exempt foreign nationals flying into Canada generally need an eTA. IRCC's page states that U.S. citizens do not need one, that it costs CAD $7 and that it is valid for up to five years or until the passport expires. That requirement is the passenger's, not the car company's. It is easiest to catch before the pilot files the arrival report.

What Onroutz.ca does not do

• It does not operate or arrange aircraft.
• It does not file the customs report or the manifest; the pilot or operator does.
• It does not guarantee FBO or airport access. That is set by the FBO and airport operations.
• It does not provide armed drivers or bodyguards.
• It does not promise alcohol on board.

Naming these limits early saves everyone a bad morning.

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