Story ID: 
April Saw European Covid Bizav Traffic Slump
By: Curt Epstein
Caption: Business Aviation traffic in Europe was off by more than 70 percent year-over-year as a result of the continuing Covid-19 crisis.
Word Count: 213
European business aviation traffic continued its downward plunge in April as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the latest statistics released by EBAA. In the April edition of its Traffic Tracker Europe, the organization noted an average year-over-year decrease of 71 percent for the month, declining from 52,000 flights to just over 15,000.

Given the 90 percent decrease in the region’s airline traffic, one out of five aircraft flying in Europe during April was a business aircraft, far exceeding the normal average of 8 percent. Since the pandemic took hold in Europe, activity reached its nadir in the second week of April, and rose slightly from that trough through the end of the month.

In terms of trends, EBAA observed that instead of international traffic, most business aviation activity was happening mainly inside countries, due to various travel restrictions in place, and smaller business aircraft are being used more than larger ones. Medical flights have more than doubled and now represent a quarter of all business aviation activity, it added.

For the month, business aviation departures at major business aviation hubs such as Paris Le Bourget and Geneva Airports were down by more than 83 percent from a year ago.