Business aviation in Europe fell by 1.5% in August 2015 compared with the same month in 2014, with 72,182 flight departures last month, according the WINGX’s latest Business Aviation Monitor. Flight hours fell by 3.4% in August and the 2015 year-to-date trend is now -1%.
According to the report, the German market saw overall activity rise by 4% with private flights up more than 15% on the previous year. Flight activity in France and the Scandinavian region also increased.
The relapse in business aviation came largely from Italy, where flights declined 8% year-on-year, with the UK and Spain also seeing decreases. The report showed that peripheral European markets also continued to struggle, with Turkey down 9%, and Russia declining by 20%.
Overall, the core Western European market was just ahead this month but this growth was outweighed by declines in South and East Europe. Flights from Europe to the CIS region continued to fall, down 20% in August 2015. Flight connections with the Middle East were well up this month but transatlantic flights declined year-on-year and inbound flights from North Africa were substantially reduced in August.
Most of the decline this month came in business jet rather than prop activity, and specifically in AOC flights. Europe’s busiest city pair for Charter flights, Vnukovo-Nice, was down by a third compared with last year. There were some exceptions to this trend, with increased AOC activity in the ULR, VLJ and especially super midsize jet activity. Compared with last year, Phenom 300 and Challenger 300 flights almost doubled.
Richard Koe, managing director of WINGX Advance, commented, “Growth has once again stuttered in the European market. Italy was particularly weak, and clearly the collapse in the CIS market has undermined the VIP tourist season this year. At the aggregate level, charter demand was relatively soft this summer. There were exceptions, with super midsize and very light jets flying much more this year. Turboprops have also been in strong demand, with this summer’s prop flights exceeding pre-2008 peaks. The top end of the market is also still strong, with ultra-long range activity increasing as heavy jet activity declines.”
September 7, 2015
