Main news
Bizjet activity week 19 2024 is flat overall, with some significant regional divergence, noting significant weakness in Germany, Middle East, Africa and Asia, but strength in Texas, Switzerland and Brazil.
In the modern aviation market, personnel management is a rapidly developing field: approaches are changing, new search tools are appearing, and the functions of HR workers are transforming. Moreover, leading experts in the business aviation market are raising the problem of personnel and personnel management, along with the main brake on the market — supply chain disruption. This important challenge creates the need for conferences and summits all over the world, but local events are what produce the greatest effect and generate the right recommendations based on the economic and political characteristics of a particular region.
Business jet utilisation is fraying slightly on comparable 2023 flight volumes, which is itself some way below the post-pandemic peak. But the Super Mid and Ultra Long-Range fleet is racking up more activity than ever.
The outlook for business jet activity is softening in Europe as utilisation levels fall below 2019 levels, notably in Germany and France. The US market is relatively resilient, especially for large fleet operators in the charter and fractional space.
Bombardier, the worldwide leader in business aviation, unveiled a new brand identity anchored by the evolution of the company’s logo. As Bombardier successfully moves forward as a company with a sole focus on designing, building and servicing the world’s best business jets, the new brand identity will reinforce and propel the company’s unique approach to its customers and stakeholders—putting people at the centre and instilling a one-of-a-kind sense of family.
Airbus Helicopters’ Racer demonstrator, developed in the frame of the European Research Clean Sky 2 project, has performed its first flight, in Marignane. The aircraft flew for about 30 minutes, allowing the flight test team to check the overall behavior of the aircraft.
Compared to last year, April’s trends are stronger than March, with growth in most of the top markets. UK, France and Germany were exceptions in Europe, with the charter market notably weakening. Bizjet activity in the Middle East saw further erosion, markedly Saudi Arabia. In the US, large business jets are seeing strongest demand. US charter demand is tailing off this month, Part 135 flights down 6% in week 16.
Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. announced the commencement of customer deliveries for the all-new Gulfstream G700. The first two G700 aircraft have been delivered and are now in service with Gulfstream customers.
Textron Aviation's legendary Cessna Caravan turboprop family has surpassed 25 million flight hours, reinforcing the Caravan as the most produced single-engine utility turboprop of all time.
At the start of April (1st – 7th), global bizjet sectors are 2% ahead of comparable last year, trailing 2022 by 4%, 37% ahead of 5 years ago. Over the same period, scheduled airline activity is 24% ahead year-on-year, 12% ahead of 2019. Dedicated cargo sectors start this month are 3% ahead of last year, 18% ahead of 2019.
Over the past couple of years, the business aviation market of Central Asian countries, as if awaking from the instability that followed the pandemic and global economic adjustment, has begun to form rapidly, but now with a fundamentally new picture of the customer. The undisputed leaders of this growth are Central Asian countries where the clientele, which enjoy new economic opportunities and international cooperation, want their business activities to be not only profitable, but also comfortable.
Overall flight volumes are so far very similar to last year, but with considerable variance by region and operator type, with demand in Europe clearly ebbing, the US flat overall but at record highs in New Jersey, fractional operations powering ahead.
Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), announced the all-new Gulfstream G700 has received Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) type certification, paving the way for customer deliveries of the most spacious aircraft in business aviation.
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.