Bizav Flight Activity in Europe Continues Ascent

Business aircraft departures in Europe climbed 2.9 percent year-over-year, to 79,280, last month, according to data from WingX Advance. Year-to-date, flight activity in the region is up 3.6 percent from a year ago.

All of the leading markets saw gains; Germany, the UK and Italy logged “modest” increases while France experienced 3 percent growth and Switzerland surged by 8 percent. Smaller markets with strong growth included Greece, with flights rising 14 percent, and Turkey, where flight activity soared by 10 percent year-over-year. There was a small decline in Norway, while flights in Ireland and Croatia fell 6 percent and 8 percent, respectively, from a year ago.

WingX said the Southern Mediterranean “continued to be the hub for growth in business aviation” last month, with flights up 7 percent. Eastern Europe saw 2 percent gains, but is still trending up 5 percent year-to-date. Overall, business aviation flights within Europe ticked up 3 percent.

Flights from Europe to other global regions were muted, with flat activity to the Middle East and declines to North America and the CIS region. However, arrivals into Europe from Asia-Pacific climbed 21 percent and arrivals from China increased almost 40 percent year-over-year.

The main growth continues to come from the air charter segment, which recorded 39,288 flights last month, a 7.5 percent increase from a year ago. Business jet charter flights rose 9 percent, while private flights declined year-over-year.

Some of Europe’s busiest airports saw declines last month, including Paris Le Bourget, London Luton and Milan Linate. France’s Nice Airport reported “strong growth,” with flights up 11 percent, and London Biggin Hill departures rose 15 percent.