Following 4-percent growth last year, the global business aviation market saw a 2-percent slowdown in flying during the first quarter versus the same period last year, according to JSSI’s latest business aviation index. The firm’s index tracks the number of hours that business aircraft have flown by region, industry and aircraft type.

By industry, flight hours at real estate firms soared 20 percent year-over-year, while the aviation sector (meaning charter operations) eked out a 1-percent gain. Flying activity subsided in the transportation/logistics, power/energy, construction, financial services, healthcare and manufacturing fields, with many down by percentages in the teens.

Across the world, flight hours in Latin America and the U.S. declined on a year-over-year basis, falling by 9 percent and 6 percent, respectively. Flying was up modestly in the other major world regions: Asia, 1 percent; Middle East, 1 percent; and Europe, 3 percent.

Looking at flight activity by aircraft type, JSSI continued to see year-over-year growth in the large-cabin jet and single-engine turboprop markets, which climbed by 2 percent and 16 percent, respectively. Light-jet flying fell the hardest, down 12 percent, followed by helicopters (-9 percent) and midsize jets (-4 percent).