There were 79,280 business
aviation departures in September according to WINGX`s latest monthly
Business Aviation Monitor. The figure represents a 2.9% increase YOY, taking
the YTD trend to 3.6%. Activity in September 2017 was still 4.4% behind the
pre-crisis peak in September 2008.
All the leading markets were
up, with modest gains in Germany, UK and Italy. France achieved 3% growth
and Switzerland 8%. Germany, Spain and UK are seeing a combined increase of
around 1,000 flights per month so far this year.
Smaller markets with strong
growth included Greece, flights up 14%, and Turkey, whose flight activity
gained 10% YOY. There was some decline in Norway, and flights were down 6%
from Ireland, down 8% from Croatia.
The Southern Med region
continued to be the hub for growth in business aviation this month, flights
up 7% in September. Eastern Europe saw 2% gains, but is still trending up 5%
YTD. Overall, business aviation flights within Europe were up 3%.
Flights from Europe to other
global regions were muted, with flat activity to Middle East and declines to
North America and CIS region. Arrivals into Europe from Asia-Pac were up
21%, and arrivals from China increased almost 40% YOY.
The main growth continues to
come from AOC activity, with 39,288 AOC flights this month, up 7.5% YOY. AOC
activity has grown in every month since October 2016. Business jet AOC
flights were up 9% this month. Private flights declined YOY.
Activity trend by City |
|
Flights
were up from London, and saw strong growth in Nice and Geneva. |
Aircraft
The
largest YOY growth in flights this month came from the Textron fleet,
sectors up by 5%. Textron Light jet sectors were up 10% YOY, and Midsize
flights were up 80%. Embraer aircraft saw most increase in activity, up 29%
overall, +37% in AOC activity.
The busiest aircraft types
this month were Citation Excel/XLS, activity, up by 3%, and King Air 200,
flights decreasing by 6% YOY. Phenom 300 AOC activity is seeing growth of
almost 60%. Citation Bravo AOC activity was up more than 10% YOY.
Airports
A few of the busiest airports
saw some decline this month, including Le Bourget, Luton and Linate. Nice
had strong growth, flights up by 11%, and AOC sectors gaining 16%. Biggin
Hill departures were up by 15%, AOC flights up by 27%.
Richard Koe,
Managing Director of WINGX Advance, comments: “The summer season for
business aviation slowed slightly in September but still saw strong demand
in Charter activity, especially in the Small Jet segments. By contrast,
Owner flight activity continues to stagnate. Newer aircraft such as the
Citation Latitude are seeing very strong growth, although older types
including the Citation Bravo and Legacy 600 are also much busier in the
Charter market. It will be interesting to see if the charter market can
sustain its growth trend going into the 4th Quarter.”
Download the latest Business Aviation Monitor
WINGX
Advance is a data research and consulting
company based in Hamburg, Germany. WINGX
analysis provides actionable market intelligence
for the business aviation industry. WINGX
services include: Market Intelligence Briefings,
Customised Research, Strategic Consulting,
Market Surveys. WINGX customers range from
aircraft operators, OEMs, airlines, maintenance
providers, airports, fixed base operators, fuel
providers, regulators, legal advisors, leasing
companies, banks, investors and private jet
users.