European Business aviation traffic tracker (November 2020)


November marks a clear second dive in traffic

The business aviation sector was heavily impacted by the crisis from mid-March onwards, reducing activity by up to 76% around mid-April. We observed a slight upturn at the end of May, that was confirmed in June and accelerated over the summer.

November marks a clear second dive in traffic. The lockdown measures put in place by various European states at the beginning of the month have affected air transport. At the end of the month, Business aviation has fallen to -26% compared with November 2019.

Key learnings

  • The Spanish market (-11% at the end of November) seems to have recovered since September, whilst, Italy and the United Kingdom were significantly impacted by the second wave at the end of the month (-36% and -44% respectively, well below the European average).
  • The long-haul segment hit the most. Heavy aircraft, as well as the airports that concentrate long haul traffic, are experiencing a traffic deficit below the European average. This trend is observed from the start of the crisis onwards.
  • During the year, the closure of borders in Europe led to a transformation of the major airport pairs trends. While there has been a decline in cross-border connections, several internal connections have been greatly strengthened during 2020.

This traffic report is made possible thanks to EUROCONTROL data and the support of WingX.