What Is The Busiest Day Of The Year For Private Jets In Europe?
In a previous post I talked about one of busiest weekends in this year’s private jet calendar – a combination of the Cannes Film Festival, Monaco Grand Prix and Champions League Final drove demand sky high in Europe during the last weekend in of May.
But in fact, the single busiest day of the year may still be yet to come.
Last year, it fell on 29th June 2012 when there was a total of 5,298 private jet movements (departures or arrivals) at European airports.
This was quite an increase on the average daily flight number of 3,410. Or to look at it another way, 1,888 fewer flights than the quietest day of the year – which was 31st December 2012.
In fact the five quietest days for private jet traffic in 2012 were all around the Christmas and New Year holiday.
So 29th June – an innocuous sounding day you might think? There is no single factor that sent private jet demand soaring on that day. Rather a combination of things.
Firstly it was a Friday. Fridays are traditionally the busiest day of the week for private jet demand, year-round.
Secondly it was June. June is a busy month in private aviation because of the combination of still-high business demand, along with increasing summer leisure travel.
This is the month when wealthy second home owners and leisure travellers are most likely to escape on a Friday, for a long weekend in the European sunshine.
In fact after 29th June, the next two busiest days were also Fridays in June – 15th June and 22nd June.
Key events also drive spikes in private jet demand and June sees a large number of summer season events in Europe – which attract both corporate and leisure travellers in private jets.
29th June last year was the second day of the EU Summit in Brussels, attended by EU leaders and VIP decision-makers from across Europe.
These are people who are looking to get in and out as quickly as possible, and their itineraries can change significantly if negotiations can go on longer than expected.
This means the flexibility and time-saving benefits of private jets become compelling. Private jet numbers were double at Brussels airport on 29th June last year.
This year’s June EU summit also falls on a Friday – this Friday June 28th. And this weekend is also busy with a number of events attracting wealthy leisure and corporate travellers, including the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, Paris Menswear Fashion Week, Wimbledon and Glastonbury.
So watch this space and I’ll let you know if the last Friday in June strikes again as the busiest day of the year (so far that is – nothing is certain in the world of private aviation).
Thanks to our friends at WingXAdvance.com for the data. Fascinating as always.
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