Kerry Lynch stepped into the role of editor of the&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;monthly magazine in May 2022 after serving with&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;for eight years. She joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in December 2014 as a senior editor covering Washington and business aviation news. She has also served on Convention News teams, including as editor of&nbsp;HAI Convention News. Lynch previously spent 25 years with Aviation Week. During her time there, she reported for and later steered&nbsp;The Weekly of Business Aviation, oversaw business aviation content on the&nbsp;Aviation Week Intelligence Network, served on the&nbsp;Show News&nbsp;staff, and held roles as the Washington columnist for&nbsp;Business &amp; Commercial Aviation&nbsp;and&nbsp;Overhaul &amp; Maintenance&nbsp;monthly magazines. In 2021 she was honored with the National Business Aviation Association Platinum Wing Award for lifetime achievement in journalism and was the 2004 recipient of the National Air Transportation Association’s Aviation Journalism Excellence Award. She also has been a recipient of an Aerospace Media Award for business aviation (2022) and NBAA Gold Wing Award (2003, 2024). Lynch graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor of arts in journalism.

Editor, AIN monthly magazine

Kerry Lynch

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&nbsp;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.”

Bizjet Activity Strengthens in June, but Still Lags

The latest WingX data shows business aviation activity down 34 percent worldwide in June, but better than the 47 percent decline looking back to May.

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