Business aviation activity in Europe continued to slump last month, falling 0.6 percent year-over-year to 63,917 flights, though charter flying eked out a slight increase, according to data released today by Hamburg-based WingX Advance. “While the resurgence of charter activity in France, UK and Spain is an encouraging sign, the overall picture of the first quarter is a depressing 5-percent deficit on last year's activity,” said WingX managing director Richard Koe.

There was growth in Western Europe, with “strong performance” in France, UK and Spain offsetting declines in Switzerland, Germany and Italy. Meanwhile, flight activity continued to fall in Ukraine and Russia due to geopolitical issues, weighing down the entire Eastern European market. In fact, the standoff with Russia resulted in a 35-percent drop in flights from Europe to the CIS in the first quarter.

Charter activity bounced back in some markets, with such flights in France climbing by 13 percent; Spain, 9 percent; and the UK, 15 percent. Most of the growth in France came from piston activity, while business jets accounted for expansion in Spain and the UK.

Transatlantic flights picked up again last month, mostly due to the “burgeoning” U.S. market. Flights between Europe and Africa also remain on a strong “growth trend,” while business aviation activity between Europe and China continued to cool.

European airports with the most growth were clustered in the UK and south of France, with Farnborough “standing out.” Nice was an exception, losing “significant activity,” WingX said. The decline in Swiss airport activity corresponds to the fall in the Russian market, it added.