Business aircraft flying dipped 2% year over year (YOY) last month, with losses in North America and Europe overpowering a 14.5% gain in the rest of the world, according to TraqPak data released yesterday by Argus International. May traffic in North America fell by 2.5% YOY—higher than Argus’ -1.1% forecast—while activity in Europe plummeted by 7.2%. This month, Argus is predicting decreases of 3.2% and 6.6% in North America and Europe, respectively.
“European activity took a surprise turn in May, while the North American market was a little lower than forecast but still remains in the same territory it has been in for the last 24 months,” said Argus senior v-p of software Travis Kuhn. “Summer charter activity will be the focus to see if leisure travel can provide a necessary boost.”
In North America, fractional flying soared by 13.2%, but that wasn’t enough to offset the 7% and 3.4% reductions in Part 91 and 135, respectively. By aircraft category, only midsize jets eked out a gain in the region, rising by 2.4%; large-cabin jets were down 7.7%, followed by light jets, -4.4%, and turboprops, -3.3%.
Turboprops drove most of the traffic decline in Europe last month, falling 21.2% YOY, followed by a 7.7% drop in large-cabin jets. Light jets managed a 1.5% YOY increase in Europe, while midsize jets were largely flat at +0.1%.