May business aviation flying was 18% ahead of 2019 but 6% down from 2022

The Jefferies/WingX Monthly Business Aviation Report shows private jet flight activity is staying well above the pre-Covid 2019 level even as it sags from record heights

Worldwide business aviation flight activity increased 18% from 2019 levels in May 2023 but contracted 6% from May 2022, according to the Jefferies/WingX Monthly BizAv Report.

The global increase was driven by Asia/Pacific, up 44% compared to 2019.

The world’s largest business aviation market, North America, was up +18% compared to 2019.

The increase versus 2019 was led by private flight departments (+45%) and fractional/Charter (+21%).

Corporate flight departments (17% of totals) are up just 1% from 2019 levels and down 11% compared to 2022.

Fractional/Charter was 32% of the market, followed by Private Flight Departments (26%), Aircraft Management (20%), and Corporate Flight Departments (17%).

Worldwide business aviation flight hours were up 20% from 2019, with the average trip duration down slightly to approximately 1.6 hours.

Monthly hours per aircraft averaged 26.7 in Jan-May 2023, down from 28.4 hours per aircraft in 2022.

On a full-year basis, the hours per flight in 2022 compared to 25.1 hours on average in 2019.

Across the top fractional and Charter operators, FlyExclusive and Flexjet led the increase in activity, up 99% and 97% compared to 2019, respectively.

Compared to 2022, Flexjet is up 10%. NetJets was flat. Wheels Up was up just 1% from 2019 organically and down 5% y-o-y in May.

NetJets accounts for 38% of the segment, while Flexjet has 10%, Wheels Up 6%, and FlyExclusive 3%.

However, those share figures exclude Aircraft Management, which includes a vast amount of charter activity.

North American business aviation accounts for 76% of departures and 74% of flight hours.

However, Jefferies/WingX say there’s room for improvement.

“The North American fleet is somewhat underutilized relative to the global fleet, with the region accounting for 79% of the active fleet of business jets,” according to the report.