December 19, 2024
Airlines in the U.S. and Europe enter the summer in meltdown mode as private jet flight activity remains robust in Week 25. It was up 3% from Week 24 and 10% ahead of 2021’s record-setting levels.
For the week ending June 26, 2022, WingX reports 78,406 private jet flights, including 52,805 in the U.S., where departures increased 5% week-to-week, and 8% ahead of last year.
Looking over the past month, global private jet flights were 12% ahead of 2021 while the U.S. was up 9%.
For Europe, private jet departures were up 1% week-to-week, 16% for the week compared to 2021 and 23% for the trailing four weeks.
Perhaps most interesting is the rebalancing of where users are flying privately.
While U.S. private jet departures were up 9% compared to 2021 for the last four weeks, Florida, California, and Texas, which account for 30% of the total, saw growth of 1%, 3%, and 5%, respectively.
| Market | Week 25 | % Change vs. prior week | % Change vs 2021 | Last 4 Weeks (Flights) | % Change vs. 2021 |
| Global | 78,406 | 3% | 10% | 300,868 | 12% |
| North America | 57,581 | 4% | 8% | 220,340 | 9% |
| USA | 52,805 | 5% | 8% | 201,489 | 9% |
| Florida | 5,353 | 2% | 7% | 21,994 | 1% |
| California | 5,057 | 5% | -2% | 20,002 | 3% |
| Texas | 4,933 | 2% | -1% | 19,426 | 5% |
| Europe | 16,294 | 1% | 16% | 62,986 | 23% |
| UK | 2,073 | 0% | 73% | 8,150 | 81% |
| Germany | 1,857 | 8% | 18% | 6,889 | 15% |
| France | 2,406 | -7% | 15% | 10,271 | 41% |
| Switzerland | 958 | 8% | 16% | 3,524 | 20% |
| Italy | 2,013 | -1% | 28% | 7,805 | 49% |
| Middle East | 1,546 | 7% | 12% | 5,721 | 13% |
| Africa | 771 | -4% | 11% | 3,153 | 23% |
| Asia | 2,089 | 7% | 21% | 7,988 | 22% |
| South America | 1,112 | 2% | 9% | 4,363 | 10% |
Global fractional and charter flights increased 2% week-to-week, accounting for 38,467 of the total market, just under half.
That was good for a 5% year-over-year gain and 7% for the last month.
However, the U.S. market continues to show signs of slowing. While charter and fractional departures increased 2% from the previous week, they were 5% below last year’s levels.
For the past four weeks, U.S. fractional and charter flights saw a 3% dip with 99,757 private jet flights, while the market grew 9%.
In other words, Part 91 flying is outpacing Part 135 and 91k.
| Market (Part 91K & Part135) | Week 25 | % Change vs. prior week | % Change vs 2021 | Last 4 Weeks (Flights) | % Change vs. 2021 |
| Global | 38,467 | 2% | 5% | 149528 | 7% |
| North America | 26,582 | 2% | -4% | 103,588 | -2% |
| USA | 25,626 | 2% | -5% | 99,757 | -3% |
| Florida | 2,679 | 0% | -6% | 11,569 | -10% |
| California | 2,994 | 0% | -14% | 11,964 | -7% |
| Texas | 2,008 | 3% | -9% | 7,966 | -3% |
| Europe | 11,447 | 1% | 36% | 44,221 | 36% |
| UK | 1,530 | 3% | 104% | 5,943 | 96% |
| Germany | 1,213 | 5% | 39% | 4,550 | 26% |
| France | 1,709 | -8% | 39% | 7,272 | 61% |
| Switzerland | 687 | 7% | 37% | 2,533 | 31% |
| Italy | 1,517 | -1% | 44% | 5,881 | 59% |
| Middle East | 663 | 5% | 18% | 2,470 | 16% |
| Africa | 155 | -8% | 38% | 642 | 71% |
| Asia | 263 | 6% | 55% | 1,002 | 39% |
| South America | 13 | 63% | -24% | 47 | -23% |
Florida, Texas, and California all saw decreases in charter and fractional flights from last year and are 3%-to-10% below 2021 levels for the last four weeks.
Several jet owners tells Private Jet Card Comparisons they are keeping their aircraft for their own use exclusively instead of putting them on the charter market.
The changes come as U.S. and European airlines have been canceling flights and slicing flight schedules, unable to keep up with the rebound in demand.
It’s shaping up to be a cruel summer for flyers as there are more reasons to fly privately and limits on capacity, at least on busy days.
Find the perfect solution for your private aviation needs
Save Time. Buy Confidently.
Receive an apples-to-apples comparison of programs that meet your needs from more than 500 jet card and fractional options covering 65 points of differentiation and over 40,000 data points.
