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Bouncing back from the cool-off in the second half of 2022, global business aviation flight activity in the first month of the new year posted a 2.2.% gain, according to the latest info from ARGUS in is TRAQPak reporting.
Despite the jump to start the year, global bizav flights were down 3.9% from December. North American flights in January were up 1.3% year to year and up 14.4% from January 2022. Year to year, European business aviation flights dipped 11.3%.
"January showed signs of stability within the North American market, falling closely in-line with our original forecast for the month," said Travis Kuhn, vice president of market intelligence for ARGUS. "This may be an early indicator that the cooling we saw in the second half of 2022 is beginning to subside. We still expect activity to be down year over year for the first few months of 2023 but it should be minor as the industry continues to operate at very healthy levels."
In its 2022 wrap, ARGUS noted that the industry witness some of its first slides in flight activity post-pandemic. After a 23.2% gain year over year in the first quarter, the other three quarters were generally flat, up 0.4% compared to 2021 and up 15.2% compared to 2019.
Overall 2022 flight activity increased 5.1% from 2021 and 15.5% from 2019. Overall 2022 flight hours increased 10.6%, year to year and 22.1% from 2019.PREVIOUS STORY: December flights dip in latest tracking; Europe, U.S. outpace other regions in drop
For January, the results by operational category in North America gained year to year. Fractional activity grew the most, up 12.7% from January 2022, while Part 91 activity rose 4.4%, driven by double digit growth in the large cabin segment.
Part 135 activity finished down 5.7% from January 2022, although, large-cabin aircraft grew 6.8% from the prior year.
Regionally in the states, all eight zones reported monthly declines. The Western Pacific Region posted the smallest monthly decline, down 0.9%. The largest monthly decline was in the Eastern Region, sagging 12.1% from December.
For February, ARGUS TRAQPak analysts predict a 1.1% decrease in overall North American flight activity year over year, with European flight activity expected to dip 16.8%.