The 62,726 business aircraft departures in Europe last month marked a 1.4 percent year-over-year increase, though business jet activity slid by 1 percent from last November, according to the latest data from WingX Advance. On a rolling 12-month basis, business aircraft flying in the region is up 2 percent from the previous year, it said.
“Flight activity trends in November reflect widespread anecdotal evidence that the market has seen a substantial slowdown, which might be just a seasonal drop-off but may also hint at growing economic concerns in the European region,” explained WingX managing director Richard Koe. “The overall trends, which are flat year-over-year, camouflage the underlying fall in business jet demand, clearly faltering in the charter market.”
WingX noted some growth in France last month, with a “fairly strong” increase in activity in Germany and Spain versus a year ago. However, business aircraft departures fell more than 5 percent year-over-year from the UK, Italy, and Switzerland. Domestic UK activity fell by 9 percent from November 2017.
Flights to North America from Europe were “robustly up” last month, but transatlantic flights into Europe were down. Middle East arrivals into Europe continued to decline, slumping around 10 percent from last year.
Meanwhile, “Charter activity has run out of steam since this summer, having grown solidly most months since 2016,” said Koe. Charter activity out of the UK last month dropped by 10 percent.
Most of the top airports, notably Geneva, saw a fairly sharp decline last month. Farnborough was an exception, with 25 percent year-over-year growth in departures.
