Private jet flights set December record with 43% gain

With Omicron not slowing growth last month, January private jet flights in North America are expected to jump 38%, according to Argus TraqPak

Argus TraqPak’s review of year-over-year flight activity (December 2021 vs. December 2020) indicates that last month reported a yearly gain of 36.7%. Flight activity increased 16.5% when compared to December 2019.

TRAQPak recorded just under 300,000 business aviation flights for the period. The results by operational category continued to remain all positive, with Part 91 activity claiming the top spot, up 40% from December 2020.

Fractional operator activity followed with a 38.6% increase thanks to strong demand across all aircraft categories.

Part 135 (charter and jet cards) rounded out the gains with a 32.9% increase.

The aircraft categories reported another sizeable gain in large cabin activity for the month, up 60.7% from December 2020.

Midsize jets followed with a gain of 43.7%, and light jet activity increased 34.5% year over year.

The turboprop market rounded out the month with a 21.8% uptick in yearly activity.

The most significant individual gain occurred in Part 91 large cabin segment, which recorded year-over-year growth of 63.5%.

“Overall December flight activity was right on the forecast as Omicron did not cause any noticeable disruptions to business aircraft operations. We continue to see the results of strong demand and expect that to continue well into 2022,” Argus vice president of market intelligence, Travis Kuhn, says.

TraqPak analysts estimate a 36.6% increase in overall North American flight activity year over year for January 2022. Traffic is estimated to be up 22.4% from January 2020.

The strong outlook isn’t limited to North America. European activity is estimated to increase 90.8% year over year.