Business aircraft activity dipped by 3.3 percent in North America and by 10.2 percent in Europe in 2023 but managed to remain strong in the rest of the world as it continued to normalize following the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Argus International.
Releasing its 2023 Annual Business Aviation Review, Argus said last year began with numerous questions on whether the flight activity declines that began at the end of 2022 would continue and what the impact of a possible recession and supply chain issues would be. Further, questions remained on Part 91 activity levels.
In fact, Part 91 flights did ebb in 2023, but nominally, by 2.6 percent. Outside of midsize jet activity, most of Part 91 was down by just 1 percent or less, Argus added. The recession did not materialize, but supply chain and personnel issues remained problematic.
However, Argus added, “That didn’t slow down fractional activity, which grew at a formidable 8.9 percent in 2023.” This is all the more impressive considering Part 135 activity dropped by 8.6 percent year-over-year, the research analyst and safety expert maintained.
In North America, Argus noted that activity was still up by 11.8 percent over the pre-pandemic 2019. “At this point, it is worth noting that, had the industry not seen Covid-19 and grew at 2 percent to 3 percent annually, then 2023 was right about where we would have been regardless.”
However, questions surrounded Part 135 activity and whether new travelers are cutting back along with associated leisure travel. A couple of metrics may suggest this, according to Argus data, including the curtailing of smaller aircraft operations. Part 135 flew 121,551 fewer flights overall in 2023, with turboprop flying down by 10 percent, small-cabin jets by 13.3 percent, and midsize jets by 8 percent. Large-cabin Part 135 operations dipped by just 0.7 percent.
In addition, flying on Sunday, which saw a boom in the immediate post-Covid aftermath, recorded the largest yearly decline in operations in 2023.
“No matter what the story was behind the declines, something changed in demand patterns over the last year,” Argus said.
In Europe, the slowest month in the past two years was December 2023, with the busiest being July 2022. The trend is more in line with pre-Covid activity, Argus stated. Meanwhile, flight activity dropped by 4.8 percent in the Middle East year-over-year, with the conflict between Israel and Palestine weighing on those results. Activity from January to September of last year was up 7.9 percent but plunged by 31.7 percent after that point.
The Oceania region saw activity surge by 18.4 percent last year, with November 2023 marking a two-year high with a 27.5 percent year-over-year gain. Flights soared by 47.4 percent year-over-year in Asia as the region started to bounce back from Covid restrictions.
Africa was also up by 18.9 percent; 85 percent of the yearly growth occurred between January and May. The last four months saw declines. South America also was up on the year, by 32.7 percent, with every month seeing a yearly gain of at least 19 percent from 2022.