Global private jet flights trend up 8% over 2019 in August

WingX reports the demand surge for private aviation continues for the first 10 days of August while scheduled airlines remain 40% below pre-pandemic levels

Business jet activity continues to exceed comparative activity in 2019, with 91,424 jet sectors flown globally in the first 10 days of August 2021, according to WingX.

That’s up by 8% compared to August 2019 and 31% ahead of last year. Scheduled airline activity is still trailing comparable 2019 by 40%.

So far this month, Europe is leading the recovery. Private flights are 12% ahead of August 2019, although the recovery is uneven.

Departures from Italian airports were up 22% compared to the first 10 days of August 2019, a new record. Switzerland has seen a very big jump in business jet activity this month, arrivals up by 26% compared to August 2019. Flights into Croatia and Montenegro are 50% above pre-pandemic levels.

However, the UK, Ireland, Sweden and als Turkey saw declines correlated with restrictions around the pandemic.

In terms of specific airports, Olbia´s arrivals are 18% higher than August two years ago. Phenom 300 arrivals to Olbia were up by 130%. Citation CJ1 flights rose by 70%, and CJ3 arrivals were up more than 10-fold. Most of the departure are to other Italian destinations with domestic flights up 40% over August 2019.

Nice is the busiest airport in Europe so far this month, registering 23% more activity than two years ago.

“After seven months of trailing behind the recovery in the U.S., the recovery in business jet demand in Europe is surging ahead as we reach the peak of the summer season,” says Richard Koe, managing director of WingX.