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

Business aviation usage in North America and Europe is now aligned with 2022 trends, according to industry data tracker WingX Advance, with activity levels 20 percent above pre-Covid levels.
In the third week of October, global business jet and turboprop use was up 1 percent year-over-year. That's 2 percent below the peaks of 2021 and 17 percent above the same period in 2019.
In the dominant North American market, business jet activity was down 3 percent in week 42, but 21 percent above pre-Covid 2019. New York City-area general aviation hub Teterboro Airport experienced its busiest October activity in the past four years.
While European activity was 1 percent ahead of last year’s pace and up 12 percent over 2019, it was 15 percent off the post-Covid peaks of 2021. Though fractional fleets have been flying more than in any October over the past four years, corporate flight activity in Europe is off by 16 percent year-over-year and trailing 2019 by 19 percent.
For the Asian market, business jet activity has been up by 12 percent in terms of the number of flights flown so far this month compared to the same period last year. The region is paced by India, which saw an increase of 10 percent. Following last year’s lockdown constrictions, China is seeing a nearly 200 percent increase in activity.
The Middle East continues to exceed last year’s activity levels, up 4 percent over October 2022 and more than 50 percent above 2019. Qatar and Saudi Arabia are both experiencing their busiest October since 2019. For the month, business jet departures from embattled Israel are trailing last year's by 8 percent but remain 38 percent ahead of their pace four years ago.

News and developments about airplanes, helicopters and unmanned air vehicles used in all varieties of operations, including airlines, military, business, commercial, general aviation and private.

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