Demand for charter flights looks set to fall from the rise enjoyed by the market last month, according to the latest demand index from online charter portal Avinode. As of yesterday, its demand index for the next 30 days showed a fall of just over 50 points from 116.77 on January 1, to 65.00. But the index at the start of this month was slightly up on the 59.70 figure seen on February 1 last year, when the charter sector was hurting badly from the still fresh financial crisis. Avinode calculates its demand index by taking the average financial value of the 60,000 or so trip requests processed through its system each month and working out an average daily value for trips requested for the coming month. Meanwhile, Avinode’s flight hour prices (in euros) for some specific aircraft types showed average hourly rates firming up slightly on both sides of the Atlantic. The average rate for a Cessna Citation Excel in the U.S. on February 1 was €2,292 versus €2,807.60 in Europe. The average February 1 hourly prices for a Hawker 800 and a Challenger 604 in the U.S. were €2,384.90 and €3,501.60, respectively, compared with €3,333.70 and €4,513.40 in Europe.