European business aviation flights down 2.7% in July

Malcolm Nason

WINGX Advance says European business aviation flight activity in July declined by 2.7 per cent, when compared to the same month in 2013.

Gulfstream G650 EI-JSK (Photo: Malcolm Nason).

European business aviation flight activity in July was down 2.7 per cent year-on-year, says German-based consultancy WINGX Advance.

As well as flight activity dropping for the month, the company is also reporting that year-to-date activity has fallen by 0.7 per cent.

Flights from Russia and Ukraine were badly affected by the current crisis in the region , with flight activity out of Russia dropping by 12 per cent and by 49 per cent from Ukraine.

The bright spot was again with ultra-long-range business jets, where an increase in activity during July helped the year-to-date trend increase by 12.3 per cent.

“July was the busiest month as expected, but the historically low peak confirms that the incipient recovery in European business aviation activity has lost its way,” says Richard Koe, managing director of WINGX Advance.

“This month, owner flying was particularly tepid, especially out of large markets such as France, Germany, and Switzerland. Evidently, the Ukraine crisis has undermined the market, with European flights to the CIS down 24 per cent and east-west European connections down by 15 per cent.”