Business aviation aircraft have operated 268,000 sectors so far in 2021, just six per cent off the comparable flight activity in January 2020. So says WingX's weekly Global Market Tracker.

This activity represents 19 per cent of all fixed wing flights globally so far this month, with 71 per cent of activity coming from scheduled airlines, which is trending down 48 per cent compared to last year. Under the pressure of renewed travel restrictions, the last week has seen a slump in all activity, with airline activity down 53 per cent and business aviation traffic now also sliding towards 23 per cent below normal. Over the same week, the scheduled and ad hoc cargo market has flown 24 per cent more than in January 2020.

This month's trend for business jet and prop traffic is most resilient in Asia and North America, and weakest in Europe. North America flight trends are down only five per cent so far this year, with a four per cent decline in the United States. Florida remains the world's leading hub for business aviation, with departures out of the Sunshine State up almost 20 per cent for the period, although the trend has cooled off in the last week. For the month, business aviation flights out of Texas are also up, with three per cent more departures than in January 2020. In contrast the third busiest US state, California, is more than 20 per cent below normal. Flights out of New York are up since the start of the year, though 11 per cent down in the last week. South Carolina is another state with more business aviation activity this year compared to last, maintaining that growth even in the last week.

Branded charter operators continue to buoy the market in the US, with flight operations down just one per cent and companies like XO, Jet Linx and FlexJet posting strong growth for January. Aircraft management companies have flown more sectors in January 2021 than same month 2020. But almost all of the growth effect came in the New Year holiday; as virus restrictions returned in the last two weeks, charter and managed operations have experienced double digit declines. There are still some routes with robust activity, with connections from the US to Mexico well up and flights outbound to numerous destinations in the Caribbean showing healthy year over year growth even in the last week. Increased departures are showing up mainly at Florida airports like Opa-Locka, Miami and Naples. Dallas Love Field and San Antonio International have also seen increased movements in the last week.

Over in Europe, lockdowns are taking their toll, with the last week seeing a 27 per cent dip in business aviation activity, the biggest YOY decline since June last year. Scheduled airline activity has slumped by a mammoth 75 per cent in the last week while cargo traffic has picked up 18 per cent in the same period. For business jet traffic, Russia, Turkey, Greece and Ukraine have more departures than last year, indeed Russia is the third busiest country in Europe in the last seven days. The United Kingdom is ranked seventh behind Spain, with just 400 business jet flights this week, almost all domestic, and activity down by 71 per cent YOY. With no alpine season, business jet traffic in Switzerland is down almost 60 per cent. For the whole month, Le Bourget is narrowly the busiest airport with declines of 40 per cent compared to January 2020. Next busiest airport is Vnukovo with an increase of eight per cent in departures compared to last year.

Outside Europe and the US, the busiest airport in the world is Vancouver, with six per cent more traffic than last year, although the growth is all coming from prop traffic. For business jet flights, Toluca is the number one airport, with 22 per cent fewer departures than January 2020. In contrast. Al Maktoum airport is seeing more than double the private jet traffic it normally does at this time of year. Business jet departures are up this month from China and Brazil. Flight activity to and from the Maldives is up 200 per cent even in the most recent week. Saudi Arabia is seeing more than 20 per cent declines this month, while flight departures from Morocco down 37 per cent. But overall, flight hours in Africa are down just five per cent this month.

WingX MD Richard Koe comments: “January has brought increasingly bad news to the aviation industry, and the emphasis on border control is going go stifle even the most resilient business aviation operators. With Brexit confusion to add, the UK is feeling this more than any other market, with flights activity now tumbling to its lowest point since the pandemic last spring. The US market is also slowing, but with a much larger internal geography, business aviation activity looks more resistant to this winter.”