UK sees double digit flight movement growth

BGAD Overview (Photo: Alud Davies)

Business aviation flight departures from the UK increased by 10 per cent during September.

Strong increases in flight activity from France and the UK helped offset a further erosion of flights from the CIS and the Ukraine, according to the latest data from business aviation consultancy WINGX-Advance.

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Overall, business jet activity in Europe dropped by 4 per cent year-on-year, but there are encouraging signs in the turboprop market, where a 3 per cent rise in movements was recorded.

Flights originating from or arriving into the CIS from Europe dropped by 34 per cent, losing mostly heavy jet flights which were down by 19 per cent year-on-year. The biggest drop was in flights between Russia and Turkey, which was down 70 per cent.

Geopolitical uncertainty in the CIS and Ukraine continued, with flights between Russia and Italy dropping by 26 per cent, and between Russia and France by 15 per cent.

Further drops were also seen in the Ukraine, where a 55 per cent dip in business jet flights was recorded.

Bombardier’s Challenger 300 and Global Express family flights recorded double digit year-on-year growth, while at the opposite side of the size spectrum, VLJ flights are now up 8.4 per cent in the year to date.

“There were 63,068 business aviation flight departures in September, 1,237 more than in August, equal to a year-on-year increase of 35 flights, +0.1%. The European market remains about 1 per cent off 2013 year-to-date,” said Richard Koe, managing director of WINGX Advance.

“The repercussions from the Ukraine crisis are derailing business aviation activity in Russia and Central and Eastern Europe, which has taken a large chunk out of the charter market, especially heavy jets. But the good news is that Western Europe bounced back in September, most notably in France, Europe´s largest market. Whilst it is difficult to see an economic correlation there, it is clear that the sustained growth of business aviation in the UK this year is linked to that country´s solid economic recovery.”