Aircraft Charter Demand Stabilizing
November saw mixed results in the charter sector, according to the latest data from online charter booking portal CharterX.

November saw mixed results in the charter sector, according to the latest data from online charter booking portal CharterX. Light-jet flight hours last month fell 6.9 percent compared with October to 14,842 hours, but the midsize category saw a 2.4-percent increase to 14,542 hours while large-cabin jets edged up 1 percent to 8,256 hours. CharterX takes its data from FAA flight records and filters out charter flights using tail numbers of Part 135-registered aircraft. According to CharterX, charter activity for November was down by about 9 percent from a year ago in the light category, 15 percent down for the large-cabin category but 7 percent up in midsize jets. Meanwhile, demand for flights during the coming holiday season is set to soar, according to the latest forward-looking demand index from online charter portal Avinode. Its index for the next 30 days shows a rise of just over 43 points from 61.88 on November 1 to 105.43, just slightly behind the 108.61 recorded on December 1 last year. Avinode’s flight-hour prices also appeared to reflect a firmer charter market in Europe than in the U.S.