Exclusive: Private jet flights soar back as commercial recovery lags
The European private jet industry has recovered at a far quicker rate than its commercial counterpart, Morning Wire can reveal, in a rare glimmer of light for global aviation, which has been hammered by coronavirus.
According to data from business jet brokers Colibri Aircraft, the number of European business aircraft departures in July was only down around 12 per cent on the same month last year, while August is equal when compared to 2019.
By contrast, in the commercial sector, only half the number of flights operated last month compared to the year before.
From June to July, the number of departures increased over 54 per cent, climbing from 43,659 to 67,456 flights in the latter month.
Colibri’s managing director Oliver Stone said that the private jet industry was benefiting from people’s “reluctance” to fly on passenger jets due to a lack of social distancing.
He went on: “[The recovery] is driven by business people who need to travel and cannot do so with cancelled airline routes, and by families who are reluctant to risk exposure to further virus outbreaks.
“For many users of private jets, owning and using a plane is the only way to continue to operate their businesses in this historic time of minimal airline routes.”
According to the European Business Aviation Association, the industry employs roughly 335,750 people and is worth €71bn (£65.3bn) a year.
The UK has one of the slowest recovery rates in Europe, however, with July private jet departures down 30.1 per cent year-on-year.
By contrast, in Austria, flights are actually up seven per cent compared to last July, while in Germany they are down 0.3 per cent.
The European market has also come back quicker than in the US, the world’s largest, which remains down 21.4 per cent as of two months ago.