Global bizav flights down 16% in first half of August

Data from WINGX shows that global business jet flights were down by 16% for the first half of August 2020 compared with the same weeks in 2019. Business aircraft flights in Europe were up 2% but down by 19% in the US. US flights were also down 21% in July.

“In Europe we are seeing that people have had enough of putting holidays off and have gone for it now. We are seeing a lot of pent-up demand, which is setting records for August, but it is not sustainable if business travellers do not comeback in September,” says Richard Koe, MD , WINGX. “In the US the bounce-back has not been a strong, but the US has a longer season, so we could see demand return in September and October as lock-downs ease.”

WINGX business aviation data for the US shows that:

• California flights are down by 17% for the first half of August 2020
• New York has been down a third below average all summer
• Texas is starting to pick up, back to 87% of normal August traffic
• Florida flights down 2% for the first half of the month
• Demand has also slowed in previously buoyant Arizona
• Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho and Utah are seeing more flights: business jet arrivals into Aspen are up 40%, Telluride arrivals up more than 90%, but Denver arrivals down by 37% this month
• The busiest aircraft in the US is still the PC-12, operating at close to 90% of normal flight activity
• The workhorse business jet is the super-mid Challenger 300, with flights down by 15% this month
• Smaller business jets are seeing more demand, with the Cessna CJ3 and Hawker Beechcraft 400 (including the Nextant 400XT) only 3% off normal activity
• Heavy jets are still much less active than mid and light jets but are recovering at 75% of normal activity
• Fractional flights are down almost 20%, but Flexjet is bucking the trend with strong growth.

WINGX says that in Europe:

• Business jet and turboprop flights from Germany are up by 17% this month
• Switzerland is up by 21%
• Czech Republic, Poland and Ukraine all up by at least 25%
• Croatia arrivals up by almost 50% – a large share coming from Germany, which also has a spike in visitors holidaying in Switzerland, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands
• Spanish activity is down 8% so far in August and 20% down from the peak of its recovery in mid-July
• Barcelona is down 22% behind for the first half but managed to get to 90% of normal during the Grand Prix last weekend
• Mallorca arrivals up 10% compared with last year.

WINGX says that, business aviation in Asia is closing in on pre-pandemic levels of activity:

• Australia slightly up
• India slightly down
  Business jet flights from and within China up by 16% compared with August last year
• Israel is now slightly ahead of last year
• UAE almost 50% ahead of last year.
• Flight activity is up in South Africa and Nigeria
• Mexico, Bahamas, Singapore, Japan and Argentina have seen a 50% drop in flights.