For the first time in three months, business flight activity increased from its previous month in North America. However, business aviation flights in October for North America lagged behind 2021.

October tends to be at the top of the charts for activity each year, and this past month finished 0.3% ahead of September, according to the latest data from ARGUS TRAQPak. The number of business aviation flights globally finished down 3.2% and 4.9% in North America.

However, the 2022 number is still 13.4% higher in North America than it was in October 2019. The European market was down 10% in October compared to 2021.

 “October’s flight activity landscape is indicative of transition,” said Travis Kuhn, senior vice president of market intelligence for ARGUS. “On one side of the coin we’re up double digits from October 2019 and on the other side we’re down from last year’s all-time high. Additionally, Europe is slowing but it is actually following more of its normal pre-COVID trend so it is too early to tell if other factors are influencing the flight activity volume on the continent. In the short term we expect to see some additional declines primarily related to seasonal adjustments in activity.”

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Kuhn noted that October tends to be among the strongest months for business aviation, as it is a 31-day month with no major holidays and generally much of North America does not see snow in the month. It also helps that it is the only month where all six major pro sports are active.

Historically, the following March generally hits similar numbers as October in the prior year, with the following October outgaining it, Kuhn said.

However, March remains the strongest month in 2022 for business flights, something Kuhn sees as a flattening of the post-pandemic growth curve. October 2021 remains the strongest month on record for business aviation flights.

“These are still significant numbers,” he told GlobalAir.com.

Much of the drop was in the Part 135 segment, down 10.6% year to year in October. However, it was up 6.7% from September.

NBAA regions in the south and west saw gains, as the northern part of the country slowed down. The southeast led with a 22.4% gain, while New England slid 14.6%.

For November, ARGUS TRAQPak forecasts a 1.4% decrease in overall North American flights, year to year, with European activity is estimated expected decrease 11.1% from November 2021.

Preowned business aircraft exceeded or continued to hold their value in September even as inventory levels rose, according to Sandhills Global’ s latest aviation industry market report.
That’s especially true among turboprops, the asking values of which surpassed highs that were reached earlier in May. In the U.S. and Canada, turboprops’ asking equipment value index (EVI)—a Sandhills proprietary measure used to monitor equipment markets—in September increased 3.3 percent month-over-month and 33 percent year-over-year. Used turboprop inventory increased by 4.3 percent in September but remained down 30.4 percent from a year ago.

For preowned business jet aircraft globally, September inventory rose 3.7 percent—the eighth consecutive month of increases—and was up 14 percent from a year ago. However, asking EVI edged higher at 3.4 percent for the month and 22.4 percent year-over-year.“Aircraft market segments continue to show strength despite a weakening economic outlook,” said Sandhills’ Controller department manager Brant Washburn.

After reaching record lows in December 2021, preowned business aircraft inventory is slowly creeping up, according to the latest JetNet iQ market report and survey data. Presented this morning at the annual JetNet iQ conference in New York City, program creator and director Rolland Vincent noted while strong pricing and valuations continue, the percentage of available business jets has now ticked above 4 percent for the first time since November 2021 with 950 aircraft on the market. Last year opened with an inventory of 7.6 percent and steadily declined.

The personal jet category leads in available aircraft, with 5.8 percent of the fleet for sale at the end of June, followed by bizliners at 5.2 percent and midsize jets at 5 percent. Turboprops and large, ultra-long-range jets ranked near the bottom of availability at 2.8 and 2.6 percent of their respective fleets for sale.

For the first time in four quarters, the third-quarter survey currently underway indicates that aircraft owner/operator sentiment is rising again after reaching an all-time peak in third-quarter 2021. Among the five major business jet makers—Bombardier, Dassault, Embraer, Gulfstream, and Textron—book-to-bill ratios are all above 2:1, with backlogs totaling $46.7 billion.

JetNet’s latest forecast calls for business jet deliveries to exceed 2019 levels starting next year. Over the next decade, the company predicts 8,400 new jet deliveries with a value of $264 billion (2022 dollars). While that represents a decrease of 129 units from last year’s forecast, the overall value is greater by $11 billion, signifying a swing towards the higher end of the market.

In the still-underway survey of business aircraft operators, more than 70 percent of respondents worldwide indicated they would seriously consider buying sustainable aviation fuel over the next 24 months.