Business Aviation News

Business Jet Activity Continues to Cool Down

Business Jet Activity Continues to Cool Down

Business jet activity worldwide maintained its overall downward trend but has shown signs of improvement in the first week of May, according to WingX’s Global Market Tracker.

In North America, activity decreased 7% year-over-year (YOY) in the last four weeks. But, there was a notable 5% uptick in the first week of May when compared to the last week of April. 

European business jet activity also fell 7% YOY over the last month. From a year-to-date perspective, it had dropped by 9%. In the first week of May, France and the UK were the two busiest countries in the continent, but departures were 8% and 10% below the same period last year. 

Looking at the rest of the world, activity in the first seven days of May surged significantly, rising 7% in comparison to last year. Brazil was the busiest market as departures were 8% ahead of May 2022, while China saw a sharp increase of 71%. Africa also saw a significant boost in business jet activity, jumping 25%, while South America, Asia, and the Middle East saw increases of 9%, 5%, and 3% respectively. 

“The year-on-year deficit appears to be narrowing as we come out of spring, reflecting the fact that the first quarter of 2022 was a one-off and exceptional spike in demand for private jet travel,” Richard Koe, WingX managing director, said. 

“Fractional operators appear to have maintained the largest gains compared to pre-pandemic. The charter market continues to look soft compared to last year.”


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