Fractional, charter, and private operators all wrapped up December with positive year-over-year flying activity.
After December numbers outperformed expectations, ARGUS TraqPak analysts project that private jet flying will increase by 5.2% year-over-year in January 2025.
ARGUS had expected a 1.6% year-over-year gain in December.
When all was said and done, private jet flight activity in North America was up 4.1% in the final month of 2024 compared to 2023.
All categories were in the black in December.
Fractional operators increased activity by 13.3% year-over-year.
Large cabin fractional flying was up 20.5%.
Light jets were up 13.6%, and Super Mids gained 12.7%.
Turboprops pulled up the rear but still posted a 3.9% gain.
Part 135 flying increased by 2.8%.
Part 91 flying was up 1.6%.
Midsize flying was up 7.5% for Part 135 operators, the biggest gain.
Large cabin flying was down 3.9%, the only negative segment.
Turboprops racked the most significant gains, up 3.6%, for Part 91 operations.
ARGUS Senior Vice President Travis Kuhn cautions not to get too euphoric.
“Business aviation flight activity delivered a nice Christmas gift to finish out 2024. We had expected it to be a positive month, but our growth models were expecting about half of what we ended up seeing,” Kuhn tells Private Jet Card Comparisons.
However, he added, “In North America, we still have areas of concern in large cabin Part 91 and Part 135 activity. We do expect Part 135 activity to finally begin to show positive gains on a consistent basis as we move into 2025, but, as always, we will monitor and report what happens.”
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