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Global business aircraft flight activity remained stable in November, with flights in North America even getting a slight bump from the same time last year. Numbers worldwide finished higher year to year, gaining 0.4%, according to aviation analytics firm ARGUS in its TRAQPak report. October is historically the business month of the year for business flights, and last month showed a decline of 6.7% from October 2023, reflecting seasonal adjustments and specific regional trends."The North American market continues to remain stable," said Travis Kuhn, senior vice president of software for ARGUS. "Where we see declines in Part 135 activity we see strength in fractional activity, and November saw the first positive results for Part 91 activity since January."
Kuhn called that a welcome sign.
"We have expected activity to officially turn positive these last few months but November's change of -0.4% is right in line with where the industry has been," he said.PREVIOUS STORY: With leaves falling, jets are flying - but not as much as had been expected
The North American market reported a slight year-over-year decrease of 0.3% in flight activity for November 2023, contrary to the anticipated 0.7% increase, a number that was right on the money with last month's forecast from ARGUS.
Among operational categories, Part 91 activity managed to record a positive change, showing a 1.5% increase from November 2022. Fractional activity continued to lead with a substantial 16.1% growth, while Part 135 activity declined by 8.7% year over year, attributed to the ongoing decrease in flights be light jets and turboprops.
In terms of aircraft categories, large cabin jets posted the biggest gain, rising by 4.9%. Mid-size cabin aircraft increased by 2.8%, while small-cabin aircraft experienced a fractional dip of 0.6%. The turboprop market finished down 6.2%. Notably, all four fractional segments again reported increases, with the fractional large-cabin market leading with a remarkable 22.7% year-over-year growth.
Comparing November to October in North America, bizjet flights finished down 4.8% from October. The decline was most prominent in Part 91 activity, which dropped by 6.7%. Fractional activity decreased by 4.0%, and Part 135 activity was down by 2.6%. FAA regional activity showed mixed results, with six out of eight regions reporting a monthly decrease. The Pacific region recorded the largest monthly increase in activity at 1.3%, while the New England region experienced the most significant decrease, down 22.6%.
Showing that many are ready to fly south for the winter, Caribbean flying was up 50.9% from October. ARGUS analysts expect the shift in flying patterns to balance out in December, with more flights in northern regions during the holiday season.
European business aviation activity, while returning to its normal pattern, was down by 8.1% in November compared to the previous year, as the continent moves to the lightest travel period of the year between now and March.
For December, TraqPAK analysts estimate a 0.5% increase in overall North American flight activity year over year. The European market is expected to see a decline of 8.6% for the same period.
"We are sticking with our expectation of an increase in December activity year over year but, with how the industry has operated, we could end up down 1% as well," Kuhn said. "Either way I expect the market to stay right around 285,000 - 290,000 flights for the month of December."