The big sporting chance (for business aviation)

opinion

by Mike Stones

August 30, 2024

Global sport creates opportunities for business aviation companies such as NetJets. (Image courtesy of NetJets).

It’s been a stellar spring and summer of sport (at least in the global north). Love or hate it, there’s no escaping sport. From occasional events, such as the Paris Olympics Games, the Euro 2024 football championship and the T20 Cricket World Cup, to the annual old faithfuls such as the Super Bowl and the Masters golf tournament, this year sport seems to have been bigger and better than usual. That’s proved good news for business aviation.

“2024 is certainly a stellar year for big scheduled events – not just sports but also elections – all of which are going to pull in the rich, famous, powerful, and in the aggregate, this must have had a positive influence on business aviation demand,” Richard Koe, MD of aviation consultancy WINGX, now part of JetNet, tells us.

Take, for example, the Masters in Georgia. Business jet arrivals one day before and during the event were up 15% this April compared with 2023, according to WingX data. During this year’s Monaco Grand Prix in May, active aircraft arrivals were a modest 1.7% ahead at Nice Airport.

Motor racing features in the two top annual events for business jet visits. “The Super Bowl in the US and Monaco Grand Prix in Europe, still hold sway for single day visits,” says Koe. But occasional sporting events have also helped to boost business aviation in 2024.

“The quadrennial arrival of the Olympics and the Euro football tournament have conspicuously added significant business jet activity throughout their eight weeks’ duration,” he tells us. It’s difficult to compare their impact with previous years, as both events were then subdued by Covid. But there is no denying their overall contribution. “There has been a marked effect on European business jet travel this summer; flights in and out of airports near Paris hit record-ever peaks in July, and the influx of non-European visitors, especially US, has had a trickle-down effect on top tourist destinations throughout Europe this summer.”

One UK charter provider told us it had noted a bigger impact from the soccer – dispersed over multiple locations across Europe – than the Paris Olympics, mostly in a central location, that were well served by major rail links.

Also, while blue riband sporting events are significant in attracting a lot of jets to the ramp, with much media excitement in the celebrity spotting, the activity has negligible effect on overall movements on any given day, according to WingX.

For example, there were 882 business jet arrivals into Clark County on February 9th, 2024, many of which ostensibly visited for the Super Bowl, but on the same day, there were more than 7,000 business jet arrivals at other US airports.

While the big-ticket sporting occasions draw much of the attention, there are hundreds of other sporting events which pull in business jet visits throughout the year. There’s no denying the attraction of business jet ownership or chartering an aircraft to get quickly and conveniently to venues for wealthy individuals and c-suite executives.

The big events are clearly a draw for corporations as well as leisure travellers. One example is that business travel from Australia related to the Paris Olympics was up more than 100% during July and August this year.

Plus, the biggest events – including the Olympics opening and closing ceremonies this year – often draw the very top tier of business jet owners and the biggest jets. During these occasions, perhaps unsurprisingly it’s the ultra-long-range Bombardier and Gulfstream brands that dominate the ramp.

The association between sport and aviation is a lucrative one. The airline industry sports sponsorship market size was valued at $1.2bn in 2022, according to Market Research Future. The sector is projected to grow from $1.344bn last year $3.327bn by 2032, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12%.

Different events attract different demographics, say the researchers. For example, sponsoring events such as soccer or Formula 1 races may attract a younger and more adventurous audience, while golf sponsorships may appeal to a more affluent and mature demographic.

Business jet companies have not been slow to join the course. NetJets has signed golf world number one Scottie Scheffler as a sports ambassador and has links with 50 other professional players together with tennis stars. Also, one major sporting association is understood to have ordered recently 10-plus large business jets from a leading manufacturer.

Meanwhile, for anyone suffering sport withdrawal symptoms, after the long hot summer of back-to-back events, you don’t need us to tell you that the US National Football League season starts next week. Whether your passion is watching touchdowns, home runs, hole-in-ones, goals, sixes, or your horse (or car) flashing past the winning post, there’s always another season to look forward to.

So, can we look forward to another stellar year of sport (and the boost to business jet travel it generates) unfolding from January? Koe thinks not. Choosing his words carefully, he tells us: “With no disrespect to the Women’s Rugby World Cup Rugby (to be held in the UK), 2025 is going to be a relative comedown in terms of big sporting events compared with 2024.”