Allianz : Hailing down a plane

There are 70,000 users and over 6,000 pilots registered on the platform from the three countries. Typically, flights posted on the site involve joy rides over your favorite cities or landscapes. Don't expect an alternative to your standard red-eye flight from London to Berlin or Paris to Lyon. But if you feel like from a quick jaunt to Le Touquet in France from London or have a spur-of-the-moment desire to fly from Berlin to Usedom for a visit to the botanical gardens, then Wingly might be for you.

More than 30,000 flights are available on the site. From Oberschleissheim, there are flights advertised for Berlin, Hamburg, Kiel and Venice, but most are leisure roundtrips above the spectacular Bavarian Alps, costing around 80 euros.

In a sense, the business model has always existed, says Joab-Cornu. Wingly has merely taken it online. 'We have had it confirmed by the European Union that this approach is legal in a digital form, and so we launched the portal.' The team hopes to 'democratize' private aviation. 'Flying from London to the Isle of Wight is now as easy as visiting Windsor Castle - and not much more expensive - plus you get a more spectacular view than with a standard airline flight.'

Pilots are vetted before being registered. Wingly also checks their medical certificate and licenses as part of the registration process. 'Ride-sharing, as a part of the overall collaborative economy, is quite popular in our society, with companies like Uber, Lyft, Bla Bla Car, Zipcar, Airbnb, and so on,' says Bareille. 'We are seeing more and more startups adapting this business model. Sure, some people are still reluctant, but this will change as more and more companies come aboard and are successful.'