Large-cabin aircraft led the continued rebound in business aviation activity last month in North America, where operations were stronger than even 2019 levels, as well as in Europe, according to TraqPak information from business aviation data provider and safety specialist Argus.
In North America, June marked the strongest month for business aircraft operations since October 2007, which predates the global economic meltdown, with operations up 51 percent from pandemic-stricken June 2020 but also up 12.1 percent from June 2019. North America hosted 290,697 business aviation flights in June, 98,212 more than June 2020, and 31,425 more than June 2019.
All operational categories showed gains in the month, with fractional activity posting the biggest yearly improvement of 64.2 percent, followed by Part 91 at 50.5 percent and Part 135 at 47.3 percent. Argus called the 114,721 Part 135 flights last month a new record.
Similarly, all aircraft categories showed improvements with large-jet activity up 75.7 percent, followed by midsize jets at 60.9 percent, light jets at 44.9 percent, and turboprops at 38.3 percent over June 2020.
When compared to May, activity in North America showed gradual gains, up 5.5 percent overall in June. Part 91 activity improved by 6.6 percent monthly, Part 135 by 5.4 percent, and fractional was up a more modest 2.7 percent. Again, large jets drove improvements at an 8.1 percent increase.
Argus sees the growth trends continuing in North America in July, with business aviation operations expected to outpace July 2020 by 41.5 percent and July 2019 by 13.8 percent.
In Europe, meanwhile, operations were up 86.7 percent overall from June 2020 with large jets posting a 147.6 percent jump, followed by midsize jets at 91.8 percent and 78.1 percent improvement in light jets. Turboprops rounded out the gains, up 52.1 percent.
On a month-over-month basis, business aviation operations were up 27.1 percent over May’s results in Europe, with large jets again posting the largest increase of 40.7 percent.
