Business Jet Activity Declines in April Compared With Last Year

In North America, flight activity during the 15th week of the year totaled 56,798 sectors flown by business jets, which is down 5 percent compared with the same period in 2022. During the last four weeks, activity has been 11 percent below last year’s level. Also during week 15, operations under Parts 135 and 91K declined 9 percent from a year earlier, the WingX report said.

According to WingX, 91 percent of business jet departures in North America take place in the United States, where sectors are down 11 percent since last year. Departures in Mexico were down 1 percent and Canada saw a decline of 23 percent.

The downward trend is similar across the most popular business aviation airports, with Teterboro, New Jersey (KTEB), the busiest in the region for business jets, saw an 11 percent decline compared with last year. Activity at Palm Beach (KPBR) fell 6 percent, Dallas Love Field (KDAL) is down 8 percent and Miami-Opa Locka Executive (KOPF) is down 12 percent, WingX said.

Among aircraft types, the Bombardier Challenger 300 and 350 so far have completed the most flights this month, but its total departures have declined by 7 percent compared with the same period last year, WingX said. The Embraer Phenom 300 is the only aircraft in the top three that flew more sectors this year than last, according to the report.

Worldwide, business jets flew 70,657 sectors during week 15, which is a decrease of 4 percent from the same week a year earlier. In the last four weeks the global trend for business jet activity fell 9 percent compared with the same period in 2022, WingX said.