Business aircraft flying in Europe started the new year off on the wrong foot, with activity dropping last month by 5.8 percent from a year ago, to 49,929 flights, according to data released yesterday by WingX Advance. “This fall takes last year’s tepid recovery in Europe well off course,” the Hamburg, Germany-based aviation data firm said. Last month’s flight activity, which is on par with that of January 2009, slumped due to the “political crisis in the Eurozone and conflict escalation in Ukraine,” WingX noted.

Business aircraft flying fell 4 percent in Western Europe and plummeted by as much as 10 percent in Germany. France, Europe’s busiest market, slid 2 percent year-over-year, data shows. Central and Eastern Europe also slumped, with activity in Poland down 6 percent and Austria falling 17 percent. Meanwhile, activity in Ukraine “crashed” by 59 percent year-over-year and Russia dropped by 23 percent.

Overall, business jet activity decreased by 7 percent, with Turkey the only European country showing gains in this aircraft category. Turboprop flying was mostly flat, falling by 1 percent. Charter jet activity dove by 9 percent in Europe last month and is now more than 15 percent below its level in 2008.

Several of Europe’s busiest airports saw increased activity last month, especially those near London: Luton, Farnborough, Stansted and Oxford. The largest declines in January business aircraft movements were at Moscow Vnukovo (-20 percent) and Geneva (-14 percent), WingX said.