2022 still outpacing 2021 in business aircraft flights; North America flat month over month

While business aircraft flight activity continued its year-to-year rise for the month of May, the number of flights in North America comparing May to April was essentially flat. That’s according to the latest analysis from ARGUS TRAQPak.

The numbers from the aviation analytics company show global flight activity rose 2% from May to April, while posting a 17.8% gain, compared to May 2021.

Business aviation flights in North American market finished up 11% year over year, while European flights, rebounding from more restrictive pandemic measures rose 46%, year to year.

Comparing May to April in North America, according to numbers provided by ARGUS, the increase was 0.1%, with mixed results among operations type. Fractional flights gained 3.6% from April, while Part 91 activity rose 1%, and Part 135 decreased 2.2%.

Changing weather patterns seemed to impact flight activity as the northern regions all recorded gains, while the southern regions recorded declines, according to ARGUS. The overall North American market recorded 370 more flights during the month of May, when compared to April.

“May flight activity continued to remain strong on a global scale; however, we are seeing expected signs of slowing growth,” said Travis Kuhn, senior vice president of market intelligence for ARGUS. “As we move into the summer months and compare to activity that was very strong in 2021, we expect yearly gains to normalize into single-digit growth rates throughout the remainder of the year.”

The mixed bag in North American flights appears to be less of a swing than what ARGUS reported for April, when U.S. flight activity dropped 2.7% compared to March.

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Looking ahead to June, ARGUS TRAQPak analysts forecast a 5.3% increase in overall North American flight activity year over year, with European activity estimated to increase 27.4% year over year.