November 14, 2023
Seven of the 10 busiest days for private jet flights in 2018 were Thursdays.
What are the busiest days for private jet flights? And which days have the fewest movements? According to a just released report by Argus TRAQPak, of the 10 busiest days for private flying during 2018 seven came on a Thursday, which was also the busiest day of the week averaging 9,968 flight.
The busiest day for private jet flights in 2018 was Feb. 16 with 11,401 departures beating out May 24 (11,081), Nov. 16 (11,028), Feb. 15 (11,003), April 26 (10,964), Oct. 25 (10,956), Oct. 5 (10,883), Oct. 4 (10,802), July 26 (10,771), and Sept. 27 (10,744).
While seven of the busiest days were Thursday, the others were Fridays. What’s more, there were 57 days with at least 10,000 private flights, up from 37 in 2017. Three of the busiest days came in October with two in February and one each in May, November, April, July, and September.
December had three of the 10 slowest days for private jet flights in 2018, May had two with the other five spread across November, July, September and, April and February. The 10 slowest days were Dec. 25 (3,043 flights), Dec. 24 (3,397), Nov. 22 (3,712), July 4 (4,014), Dec. 31 (4,280), May 27 (4,344), Sept. 2 (4,954), April 14 (5,142), May 26 (5,165) and Feb. 10 (5,169).
October was the busiest month for folks who fly by private jets with 8,934 flights edging out August with 8,839 flights, June at 8,689 movements, March (8,654), May (8,638), November (8,624), April (8,574), February (8,517), September (8,475), July (8,256), January (7,759) and December (7,708). During the year 10 months saw at least 8,000 flights compared to eight months in 2017. According to TRAQPak, September was the only month that had a decline.
In terms of busiest days of the week, every day saw an increase in activity during 2018 compared to 2017. While Thursday was the busiest day with an average of 9,968 private flights, Friday ranked second at 9,480 followed by Wednesday (9,413), Tuesday (8,805), Monday (8,369), Sunday (7,277) and Saturday (5,893).
If you are using a jet card, remember that on a Peak Days it’s something like you belong to a different program. Instead of 10 to 48 hours as the typical advance lead-time for reservations, it’s not uncommon to find the call-out is seven days prior to departure. Cancellations windows are longer too in many instances, and you find surcharges up to 40%. Card programs often reserve the right to move your trip by up to six hours during these high-demand days. We highly recommend that you compare the Peak Day policies and actual peak days before you buy a jet card.
