Main news

Business aviation activity is robust everywhere but Europe in March 2024. The core US market is normally busiest this time of year, and is slightly stronger than March last year when demand was affected by the regional banking crisis, but still some way off the peak in the post-Covid market back in March 2022.

Spring Break in the US has seen the usual surge in bizav in Florida, notably. Compared to same March period in 2019, Florida bizjet departures are up 56%.

Robinson Helicopter Company, the world’s leading manufacturer of civil helicopters, celebrates the 45th anniversary of its iconic two-seat R22 helicopter. On March 16, 1979, Robinson received FAA certification for the R22, which has been enshrined in the Smithsonian Museum since September 2004.

Year on year, the latest week saw strong growth, keeping 2024 a little ahead of 2023. The US is providing the ballast, with strong growth in South America and Asia, offsetting a slide in European demand.

Airbus has presented its full electric CityAirbus NextGen prototype to the public, ahead of its maiden flight later this year. The two-tonne class CityAirbus, with a wing span of approximately 12 metres,  is being developed to fly with a 80 km range and to reach a cruise speed of 120 km/h, making it perfectly suited for operations in major cities for a variety of missions.  

Globally, bizjet flights were up 1% last week, slightly ahead of the flat last 4-week trend, a considerable improvement on the relatively weak demand in January. The US market is holding up, Europe is dipping compared to last year, the Middle East also, whereas bizjet demand in South America and Asia is well up on last year.

Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company (NYSE: LMT), unveiled its plan to build, test and fly a hybrid-electric vertical takeoff and landing demonstrator (HEX/VTOL) with a tilt-wing configuration.

Global bizjet trends are flat over the last 4 weeks, recovering from the dip at the start of the year. The most recent week showed a 3% increase in the US, with Part 135 activity out of Florida up 11%, but Canada continues to see steep declines. Europe is flat, extending a 3% decline over the last month.

Holiday bizjet traffic during Presidents´ Day shows demand is still quite robust in the US, only 2% below last year´s high point. Bizjet traffic in Europe is slumping, down 10% in week 7, deteriorating on the 5% decline in the last 4 weeks. Demand in Germany is wilting, but still high levels of traffic in Spain. Bizjet activity in the Middle East is down. Australia is still a growth market.

The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) released the 2023 General Aviation Aircraft Shipments and Billings Report during its annual State of the Industry Press Conference. Overall, when compared to 2022, all aircraft segments saw increases in shipments and preliminary aircraft deliveries were valued at $27.8 billion, an increase of 3.6%.

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).