North America is leading the recovery in business aviation activity with flights operated in June down 31 percent, slightly ahead of the 34 percent decline experienced through the first nine days of the month globally, according to the latest data from business aviation analyst WingX. Europe is lagging in the recovery with flights down 50 percent this month, WingX reported, with Asia and Africa 35 percent below June norms. Since the beginning of May, business aviation activity has been down 47 percent globally.
From a rolling seven-day daily average standpoint, Europe is seeing improvements. The region has gone from a low point of 375 departures per day in early May to 1,117 by June 9. Germany is the busiest of the European markets, while France, typically the top market, is still down 60 percent. Spain, Italy, and the UK remain among the hardest hit with operations down 70 percent.
The UK did see a resurgence leading up to the June 8 enactment of mandatory quarantines for international visitors but then experienced “precipitous declines” after that day. The number of flights fell from 100 on June 7 to a little more than 30 on the 8th and 9th.
WingX continues to see the shift toward lighter aircraft, with activity involving super-midsize, midsize, and super light jets down 35 percent this month. This compares with the 50 percent declines involving ultra-long range and heavy jets and 80 percent for bizliner traffic.
Aircraft management operations appear to be the strongest niche at the moment, with flights down 25 percent in June, while branded charter is off 38 percent in the month, thus far. Fractional activity, meanwhile, is still down around 40 percent.
West Palm Beach is leading the recovery at airports, experiencing year-on-year flight growth over the last two weeks of June. Teterboro, meanwhile, is still down by 74 percent.
“It’s encouraging to see the North American market continuing to come back, especially in Florida, and business aviation in Europe has accelerated its recovery in the last fortnight,” said WingX managing director Richard Koe. “It’s a shame that the traditional high point in European business aviation demand will get blunted by quarantines through the rest of June, especially in the UK, but operators are reportedly seeing strong bookings for July, by which point many more restrictions will be lifted.”
