Research reveals strong growth of business aviation in parts of Central and Eastern Europe
Marian Jancarik
Analysis of industry data by Colibri Aircraft, which specialises in the marketing, resale and purchase of pre-owned private aircraft, reveals parts of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) are seeing strong growth in their business aviation markets when compared to the rest of Europe.
The company says a key factor behind this is impressive economic growth in parts of the region, and this has contributed towards an increase in fleet size of 16% since 2017 from (148) to (172) business aircraft. The region now makes up around 7.6% of Europe’s fleet of business aircraft, compared to 6.3% two years ago.
The Czech Republic has seen the biggest increase in its fleet of business aircraft increasing by 41% since 2017, followed by Poland which has seen a rise of 37.5%.
| Country | Fleet Growth Since Jan 2017 | Number of business aircraft October 2019 |
| Czech Republic | +41% | 62 |
| Poland | +37.5% | 35 |
| Romania | +22% | 11 |
| Slovakia | +15% | 15 |
| Slovenia | +10% | 11 |
| Hungary | +10% | 11 |
| Lithuania | -18% | 9 |
| Bulgaria | -14% | 12 |
| Croatia | -14% | 6 |
Out of ten key countries in the region, year-to-date to the end of October 2019, Romania saw an increase of 19.1% in the number of business aircraft departures, followed by Serbia which saw a rise of 4.5% and Slovenia where the corresponding figure was 5.1%. The average for Europe was a decline of 1.7%.
| Business aircraft departure by origin of country | Year to date growth to October 2019 |
| Romania | +19.1% |
| Serbia | +4.5% |
| Slovenia | +5.1% |
| Slovakia | +1.5% |
| Austria | -0.1% |
| Hungary | -1.4% |
| Czech Republic | -2.6% |
| Poland | -4.9% |
| Bulgaria | -8.4% |
| Europe | -1.7% |
Marian Jancarik, Sales Director, Colibri Aircraft said:” In recent years economic growth in Central and Eastern Europe has consistently exceeded that of the eurozone. Some Central and Eastern European countries are now vibrant market economies that are immersed into the supply chains of Europe. It is the European Union’s fastest growing region, and this has resulted in strong growth in its business aviation market.”
