For the week ending February 6, 2022, global private jet flights dipped 3% week-to-week, according to the latest update from WingX. Still, activity was 35% up on Week 5 in 2021. For the trailing four weeks, private jet flying globally is running 36% ahead of last year.
The Middle East (+12%) and Asia (+7%) saw gains compared to last week, and Europe was down just 0.4%. However, the United States saw a 6% week-to-week decline. Overall, there were 60,283 private flights worldwide, some 8,611 per day.
Still, WingX Managing Director Richard Koe doesn’t expect the downturn to last. “The first week of February saw some slowdown compared to January 2022, but U.S. operators are gearing up for Super Bowl LVI coming this weekend. In Europe, a huge increase in charter flights to Alpine airports demonstrates the rebound in leisure demand as international restrictions get lifted.”
California (up 5%) and Germany (4%) were two of the few key markets with week-to-week increases.
However, even in a huge market like Florida, where flights dipped 4% compared to Week 4, they were still 26% above the same period in 2021.
Market | Last Week (Flights) | % Change vs. prior week | % Change vs 2021 | Last 4 Weeks (Flights) | % Change vs. 2021 |
Global | 60,283 | -3% | 35% | 243,370 | 36% |
North America | 47,207 | -4% | 33% | 192,642 | 35% |
USA | 42,890 | -6% | 32% | 176,648 | 37% |
Florida | 7,314 | -4% | 26% | 30,287 | 31% |
California | 5,028 | 5% | 56% | 19,032 | 54% |
Texas | 4,167 | -13% | 12% | 18,179 | 27% |
Europe | 9,112 | -0.4% | 54% | 35,707 | 53% |
UK | 1,156 | -2% | 189% | 4,472 | 195% |
Germany | 1,211 | 4% | 31% | 4,572 | 38% |
France | 1,365 | -3% | 55% | 5,325 | 49% |
Switzerland | 775 | -5% | 101% | 3,058 | 75% |
Italy | 637 | -2% | 52% | 2,421 | 51% |
Middle East | 1032 | 12% | 16% | 3,895 | 7% |
Africa | 682 | -1% | 29% | 2,606 | 28% |
Asia | 1,734 | 7% | 14% | 6,584 | 6% |
South America | 1,073 | -1% | 23% | 4,157 | 18% |
Despite the overall slowdown, charter and fractional operators mainly held steady with 29,193 flights, a 0.2% increase from Week 4. That puts global charter and fractional activity at 36% higher year-over-year and 35% up over the past month.
California saw a robust 9.5% week-to-week gain, putting it 55% above Week 5 in 2021. Texas private jet charter and fractional flights gained 4.7% week-to-week and were 17% ahead of last year.
Market (Part 91K & Part135) | Last Week (Flights) | % Change vs. prior week | % Change vs 2021 | Last 4 Weeks (Flights) | % Change vs. 2021 |
Global | 29,193 | 0.2% | 36% | 116,161 | 35% |
North America | 22,852 | 0.1% | 30% | 91,519 | 30% |
USA | 21,886 | 0.0% | 29% | 87,686 | 30% |
Florida | 3,971 | -3.6% | 15% | 16,426 | 22% |
California | 3,015 | 9.5% | 55% | 11,304 | 49% |
Texas | 1,733 | 4.7% | 17% | 7,255 | 27% |
Europe | 6,039 | 0.4% | 64% | 23,344 | 61% |
UK | 816 | 1.6% | 215% | 3,094 | 207% |
Germany | 785 | 2.7% | 38% | 2,953 | 49% |
France | 897 | -0.4% | 72% | 3,348 | 64% |
Switzerland | 591 | -2.8% | 126% | 2,257 | 80% |
Italy | 450 | -6.1% | 49% | 1,722 | 49% |
Middle East | 413 | 28.7% | 3% | 1,430 | -4% |
Africa | 93 | -26.8% | 8% | 473 | 29% |
Asia | 191 | 25.7% | 8% | 725 | -7% |
South America | 17 | -37.0% | 113% | 92 | 188% |
While European charter and fractional flights gained just 0.4% week-to-week, they were 64% up for Week 5 compared to 2021. Europe fractional and charter jet flights were 61% higher than last year for the trailing four weeks.
Both the Middle East and Asia enjoyed week-to-week solid gains.