Kerry Lynch stepped into the role of editor of the&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;monthly magazine in May 2022 after serving with&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;for eight years. She joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in December 2014 as a senior editor covering Washington and business aviation news. She has also served on Convention News teams, including as editor of&nbsp;HAI Convention News. Lynch previously spent 25 years with Aviation Week. During her time there, she reported for and later steered&nbsp;The Weekly of Business Aviation, oversaw business aviation content on the&nbsp;Aviation Week Intelligence Network, served on the&nbsp;Show News&nbsp;staff, and held roles as the Washington columnist for&nbsp;Business &amp; Commercial Aviation&nbsp;and&nbsp;Overhaul &amp; Maintenance&nbsp;monthly magazines. In 2021 she was honored with the National Business Aviation Association Platinum Wing Award for lifetime achievement in journalism and was the 2004 recipient of the National Air Transportation Association’s Aviation Journalism Excellence Award. She also has been a recipient of an Aerospace Media Award for business aviation (2022) and NBAA Gold Wing Award (2003, 2024). Lynch graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor of arts in journalism.

Editor, AIN monthly magazine

Kerry Lynch

Business jets have completed nearly 2.4 million flights globally thus far this year, confirming a “complete recovery from pandemic lows” and tracking ahead of 2019, according to the latest WingX report. Traffic in the sector has eclipsed pre-pandemic tallies since May 2021 and is further poised to get a boost as transatlantic flights return.

 


In the first three weeks of September, business jet flights are up 15 percent over the comparable period in 2019. By contrast, commercial airline traffic is still down 41 percent year-to-date from 2019. Airline traffic is up only 20 percent from 2020 levels this year, although it did have a 47 percent bounce this month, according to WingX.

 


Business jet transatlantic flights, still facing numerous restrictions, have been slow to rebound, still down 25 percent through the first nine months of 2021 when compared with 2019. But that is set to change as the U.S. softens restrictions on inbound passengers from Europe, WingX said.

 


Some international connections have improved. Business aircraft flights from Europe to Asia are only down 2 percent this year from 2019 levels and U.S. flights to the Caribbean are up by a percentage point.

 


U.S. domestic business jet hours are up by more than 15 percent from September 2019, with airports in Denver, Dallas, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, and West Palm Beach showing signs of growth. More than 20,000 business aircraft have been active in September, each averaging 44 hours of utilization month-to-date, WingX reported.

 


Europe, meanwhile, is enjoying a late summer recovery, with business aviation activity in September up by more than 25 percent from September 2019. The UK is up 11 percent from pre-pandemic September but is still lagging other parts of Western Europe, where demand is up more than 20 percent in France and more than 30 percent in Italy, Germany, and Austria.&nbsp;Arrivals into Greece have soared 60 percent from pre-pandemic levels.

 


“The European recovery is picking up rather than tapering and the U.S. domestic market is still breaking pre-pandemic records,” said WingX managing director Richard Koe. “Given that the holiday season is ending, this sustained growth may hint at a return of the corporate customer, especially as airline recovery is slow and tenuous. International connections are also starting to recover faster.”

WingX: With 2.4M Flights in 2021, Bizjets Mark Recovery

Business jets remain on track to surpass 2019 globally as Europe enjoys late summer surge and transatlantic flights set to pick up, WingX reports.

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