Global business aircraft flight activity declined by 6.9 percent in April over the same month in 2022, results that were driven by a 7.7 percent year-over-year decrease in North America and a 16.7 percent drop in Europe, according to Argus International’s latest TraqPak report.

In North America, fractional activity logged the only yearly increase in April, up 8.1 percent. Part 91 was down across all four aircraft segments in the month for a combined decline of 6.3 percent while Part 135 operations continued its slide, down by 15 percent. The Part 91 market has essentially recovered to 2019 levels, where it was only 0.3 percent off in April 2023 compared with the pre-pandemic April, said Travis Kuhn, senior v-p of market intelligence for Argus, adding that the dynamics of business travel appears to have shifted, tempering growth.

As for the aircraft categories in April, turboprops saw the largest drop, down 11.3 percent, followed by midsize-cabin jets at -8 percent, large cabins at -5.8 percent, and small cabins at -4.9 percent.

In Europe, large-cabin jet operations led the decreases, plunging 36.9 percent year-over-year in April. All other aircraft categories saw drops as well, but in the single digits: midsize cabins at -7.7 percent, small cabins at -6.7 percent, and turboprops at -4.4 percent. In other parts of the world, activity was up 10.6 percent year-over-year with large-cabin jet activity up by 22.8 percent and turboprops by 19.3 percent.

Argus believes activity will continue to slow overall this month but at a more moderated pace. May activity in North America is anticipated to be down 2.4 percent year-over-year and Europe activity is poised to decrease by 12.2 percent.

“Our TraqPak forecast expected that April would be the lowest month on the calendar in 2023 and so far that has been correct,” Kuhn said. “Overall activity trends remain strong, and we expect to see improving numbers as we move through the coming months.”