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Business jet activity was stronger this week than last, picked up 4%, with particularly big increase in the UK, flights up 26%; this may indicate the peak ski season around school break. Business jet activity in South America is hitting peak levels. In Turkey, activity is a lot lower than the high demand last year, during the earthquake. The Middle East is seeing substantially lower demand year on year. The overall market is only modestly behind 2023, due to the stability in the US market, where Texas and Florida still have strong demand.

Piper Aircraft, Inc. announced a new model in its PA46 line of high-performance aircraft—the Piper M700 FURY—a single-engine, 700 shaft horsepower, cabin-class turboprop.

Robinson Helicopter Company has secured FAA approval for a new empennage configuration for its R44 aircraft. This accomplishment follows the FAA’s prior approval for the same configuration on the R66 Turbine, announced in September 2023.  The development and testing of the new empennage design spanned several years, resulting in enhance handling characteristics during high-speed flight.

To help our members predict the trends that will shape the year to come, we’re keen to learn from the past. Our network of nearly 2000 operators and brokers globally is maybe the most extensive source of behavioral data available in air charter. Harry Clarke continues the tradition of summing up the yearly trends we see in our extensive Avinode data.

Honda Aircraft Company today announced delivery of the 250th HondaJet since it began customer deliveries in late 2015. The milestone underscores the aircraft's prominence in the business aviation market. The 250th HondaJet recently rolled off the production line and completed the Standard Certificate of Airworthiness (SCoA), and Honda Aircraft Company associates celebrated the milestone with a special event at the company's global headquarters in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Mark Burns, president of Gulfstream Aerospace, received the Lifetime Aviation Industry Leader Award during the 21st Annual Living Legends of Aviation Awards ceremony held om 19 January in Beverly Hills, California.

Business jet activity ticked up this week compared to last week, as the US market emerged from the winter storms. So far this year, US bizjet is trending down 6% compared to January 2023, but is still tracking well up on pre-pandemic January 2019. Europe is a different case, with several countries seeing less traffic this January than in January 5 years ago.  

We are seeing the usual drop in bizjet demand following the holidays, with a dent in year-on-year activity due to the severity of the winter storms currently pummelling the US. In Europe, although the 4-week year on year decline is only 2%, the drops in bizjet activity out of Germany and France is eye-catching.

The Royal Flying Doctor Service RFDS is a name synonymous with the vast Australian outback. Seven days a week and around the clock, the RFDS is tasked with servicing Australia’s largest “waiting room”, an area spanning 7.9 million square kilometers in some of the remotest regions of the world.

NBAA recently appealed to the US Ambassador to Ireland and the Irish Ambassador to the US regarding a threatened ban on general aviation (GA) aircraft, including business aviation, at Dublin Airport (DUB).

Global business aviation activity has started the new year slightly behind comparable 2023, which itself was a rebound on locked-down January 2022. The US leisure market appears to be relatively weaker during the recent holiday period. In Europe, the UK and France markets were well back on last year, but this was offset overall by strong activity in Turkey and Spain.

Union Aviation proudly announces the prestigious addition of the Embraer Lineage 1000 to its esteemed fleet, marking a significant milestone that bolsters the company's total aircraft count to 12.

Bombardier announced that the company has received a firm order for 12 Challenger 3500 aircraft. The transaction for the firm order is valued at US$326.4 million based on list prices. The customer has chosen the super-midsize market leader for its outstanding performance, refined cabin and sustainably minded features.

December appears to be a blip in the steady trend of the last few months, with flight activity growth compared to 2019 diminishing substantially. In fact Europe is now clearly trending below 2019 levels. In the Middle East and Asia, the latest week has seen very large drops in bizjet demand. In the US, the key hub, Florida, saw bizjet flights fall 7% compared to December last year.

At the end of 2022, we looked forward to a more stabilized air charter market as our industry settled into the post-covid era. But it wouldn’t take long until the next fundamental shift was knocking on our doors. Oliver King reflects on the impact of Artificial Intelligence and how to harness its power.

Global bizjet activity is now flat over the last 4 weeks compared to last year, falling behind the Covid surge in 2021, comfortably ahead of 2019. Bizjet demand in Europe is weakening towards 2019 trend. Middle East is weaker, with 15% drop YOY in the latest week, although notably the COP conference drew a spike in bizjet arrivals. The US is still relatively strong, especially for the largest operators.

Once the holiday fluctuations are accounted for, November was a flat month for business jet activity, though fractional flying is still at record pace, particularly in large cabin flying, with Florida and Texas the bizjet hubs in the US. In Europe, November saw a slump in demand, with the full month seeing lower activity in France and Germany than back in November 2019.

Lilium N.V. (NASDAQ: LILM), developer of the first all-electric vertical take-off and landing (“eVTOL”) jet, today announces the start of production of the Lilium Jet, following the arrival of the first Lilium Jet fuselage at Lilium’s final assembly line.  In parallel, Lilium’s world-class tier one suppliers – most of which have decades of experience in supporting the certification requirements of commercial aviation – are ramping up production of parts and systems for the Lilium Jet.

Thanksgiving holidays in the US were ahead of the 2019 holiday, also sustaining a pickup in November vs November last year. European bizjet traffic was flat compared to 2019, some 7% off the comparative traffic in 2019. As in Europe, both Asia and Middle East are seeing activity soften this November compared to last year.

On the sidelines of the Dubai Air Show, Jetex announced the unveiling of a new flagship private terminal in the heart of the UAE capital, in time for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.