Business aviation activity in Europe stumbled last month, falling 1.5 percent from a year ago to 72,182 flight departures, while flight hours declined by 3.4 percent, according to data released today by WingX Advance. Year-to-date, business aircraft flying in the region is down by 1 percent.

“Growth has once again stuttered in the European market,” said WingX managing director Richard Koe. “Italy was particularly weak, and clearly the collapse in the CIS market has undermined the VIP tourist season this year.”

Germany was the main growth market last month, with overall activity up 4 percent and private flights up by more than 15 percent. Flying in France and Scandinavia also increased. Meanwhile, business aircraft flights in Italy dropped last month by 8 percent, with Spain and the UK following suit. Peripheral European markets also continued to struggle, WingX said, with Turkey down 9 percent and Russia declining by 20 percent.

Flights from Europe to the CIS region continued to falter, decreasing by 20 percent. Flight connections with the Middle East were “well up” last month, but transatlantic flights and inbound traffic from North Africa declined year-over-year.