A lifelong aviation enthusiast who joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in 2007, Curt came to&nbsp;the publication&nbsp;from the broadcast industry where he was a national science and technology television reporter and producer. He writes on the FBO field, aviation finance, and sustainable aviation and occasionally contributes to&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;sister publication&nbsp;Business Jet Traveler. Curt was a member of the AINtv reporting staff that won the 2008 Aerospace Journalist of the Year award for Best Airshow Daily. That same year, he was a finalist for another AJOYA award. He earned an AJOYA for Best Business Aviation Submission in 2018 and was a finalist in that category in 2021. He received the National Air Transportation Association’s&nbsp; Aviation Journalist Award in 2012 and won a Pegasus Sapphire Business Aviation Award for outstanding journalism in 2021.
Before joining AIN, Curt worked with&nbsp;Consumer Reports’ television division, CRTV, and for several local television news staffs. An honors graduate of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, he earned a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from Boston University in 1995. Curt lives in New York State with his wife and two young sons.

Senior Editor

Curt Epstein

For the first half of 2022, Business aviation activity was up by 22 percent over the same period last year, according to statistics released this morning by industry data tracker WingX Advance. &nbsp;During the first six months of this year, the Hamburg, Germany-based company noted that there were 2.7 million flights globally,&nbsp;with business jet activity in particular&nbsp;up 27 percent year-over-year&nbsp;and 21 percent above pre-pandemic 2019 totals. This is in comparison to commercial airline service, which is still down by nearly 30 percent versus 2019.

 


In North America, while the six-month total is up 20 percent for the year, June’s year-over-year totals showed a more modest 7 percent increase. During the Fourth&nbsp;of July holiday weekend, business jet activity was down 5 percent from last year’s record, but still 32 percent up over the same period in 2019. Europe saw nearly 300,000 business jet flights in the first half of the year, a 38 percent increase over the same period last year&nbsp;and 17 percent more than in 2019.

 


“The first half of the year set a new record for global business jet demand, and although the rebound is slowing, the gains on 2019 have held steady at around 20 percent,” said WingX managing director Richard Koe. “The European summer demand has meanwhile hit new heights as the summer holidays start in earnest.”

Global Bizav Activity Up 22% in First Half of Year

The latest statistics from industry data tracker WingX Advance show global business jet demand is up over pre-pandemic numbers.

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