The State of Europe’s Business Aviation In July, by the numbers
July showed a strong recovery in Europe for Business Aviation, with more private flights than in July 2019. EBAA’s DAIO (Departures, Arrivals, Internals and Overflights) report for ECAC (European Civil Aviation Conference) area shows a total of 92.911 aircraft movements in July 2022, 10,4% higher than through July 2021.
Overall, 2022 is a busy year, with 474,030 private flights year-to-date, 45% higher than the 327,236 YTD in July 2019.
The three busiest European states, ranked by business aviation traffic, were:
France - 33.350 aircraft movements in July (10% increase for the month) and 168.213 aircraft movements YTD (33% increase over July YTD 2021)
UK - 25.176 aircraft movements in July (47% increase for the month) and 132.048 movements YTD (87% increase over July YTD 2021)
Germany - 18.845 aircraft movements in July (6% increase for the month) and 113.321 movements YTD (22% increase over July YTD 2021)
Italy gets a notable mention (in fourth place) for a sweltering July, surpassing Germany, with 23.849 aircraft movements (an increase of 16% over July 2021) and 93.471 aircraft movements YTD (37% increase over July YTD 2021).
The top five active airports in Europe (based on average daily departures) in July were:
LFPB - Paris Le Bourget - 108,3 (up 32,3% for July) with 84,9 average daily departures for the year (up 60,7% YTD).
LFMN - Nice - 97,2 (up 6,9% for July) with 54,7 average daily departures for the year (up 38,8% YTD).
LEIB - Ibiza - 54,5 (up 9,5% for July) with 22,6 daily average departures for the year (19% YTD)
LSGG - Geneve Cointrin - 54 average daily departures (up 7% for July) with 48,7 average daily departures (up 41,1% YTD)
LIEO - Olbia Costa Smeralda - 53,5 average daily departures (up 12,5% for July) with 14,8 average daily departures for the year (up 16,4% YTD).
The three most popular routes for flights (both ways) within Europe were:
Paris Le Bourget - Geneva International with 2.191 flights YTD (+45% YTD)
Nice Côte d’Azur - Paris Le Bourget with 1.726 flights YTD (+38% YTD)
Nice Côte d’Azur - Farnborough with 1.089 flights YTD (+89% YTD)
The airport pair with the highest growth YTD is Paris Le Bourget - Luton, up 184% to 903 flights
The top five average daily flights occurred in France, UK, Germany, Italy, and Continental Spain. The top three cross-country flights were UK to France (average 57 per day in July 2022), France to UK (average 54,8 flights per day in July 2022), and France to Italy (average 52,4 flights per day in July).
63% of all traffic (per origin-destination) were intra-Europe flights
32% were domestic flights
Only 5% of flights were extra-Europe
The three busiest intercontinental connections in July were:
Europe-US (3.859 aircraft movements for the month and 19.367 YTD)
Europe-Africa (2.882 aircraft movements for the month and 20.184 YTD)
Europe-Middle East (1.745 aircraft movements for the month and 11.824 YTD)
The three most popular jets flown are:
Cessna (27.931 flights in July and 141.877 flights YTD)
Bombardier (13.417 flights in July and 65.798 flights YTD)
Embraer (10.736 flights in July and 53.156 flights YTD)
Most flew on smaller jets, with 38% of flights on light jet category aircraft, 26% on heavy jets, and 20% on turboprop aircraft.
Private Owners and Aircraft Management operators each accounted for a 29% share of traffic, with Branded Charter operators accounting for 24%.
66% of flights flown in July were short haul (below 550nm/1000km)
23% were short haul (below 1000nm/2000km)
7% were medium-haul (below 2500nm/4700km)
4% were long-haul flights (above 2500nm/4700km)
And when people fly business, they mean business. A full 60% of all flight missions in July were commercial compared to 30% non-commercial. The balance is split between medical/special missions (7%) and state/diplomatic flights (3%).
Most people (85% of European traffic in July) flew on airlines. They had to deal with the chaos of flight cancellations and crowded airports this summer, but you can always join the 11% who flew better.
—
Source: EBAA Traffic Tracker July 2022, with data from EUROCONTROL and WINGX ADVANCE