Argus: Global Bizav Flying Activity Stumbles in October

Global business aircraft flight activity last month fell 3.2 percent year-over-year as traffic in North America and Europe dipped while the rest of the world saw a 22.6 percent surge, according to TraqPak data released yesterday by Argus International. Flights in North America and Europe were down 4.9 percent and 10 percent, respectively, from October 2021. For this month, Argus analysts are predicting a 1.4 percent decrease in North American flight activity, with Europe estimated to descend 11.1 percent year-over-year.

“October’s flight activity landscape is indicative of transition. On one side of the coin, we’re up double digits from October 2019, and on the other side we’re down from last year’s all-time high,” said Argus senior v-p of market intelligence Travis Kuhn. “Additionally, Europe is slowing but it is actually following more of its normal pre-Covid trend, so it is too early to tell if other factors are influencing the flight activity volume on the continent. In the short term, we expect to see some additional declines primarily related to seasonal adjustments in activity.”

In North America, Part 135 charter activity led the decline, with traffic down 10.6 percent from a year ago. Part 91 flying dipped 1.7 percent, while fractional activity rose by 0.2 percent. By aircraft category, midsize jets were at the forefront of the erosion in this region, falling 6.2 percent year-over-year, followed by turboprops (-5.2 percent), light jets (-4.8 percent), and large-cabin jets (-1.8 percent).

Globally, midsize jets took the brunt of the activity declines, dropping 15.8 percent in Europe—the highest of any aircraft category—and recorded the only loss in the rest of the world, falling 0.9 percent.