UBS: Business Jet Flight Activity Down 11% YTD

By: Chad Trautvetter

January 6, 2009
Business Aviation

UBS Investment Research’s recently issued business jet update indicates that flight activity, measured by takeoffs and landings, was 10 percent lower in November on a rolling 12-month basis and down 11 percent year-to-date. According to UBS analyst David Strauss, the decline has been led by reduced charter activity, which dipped 15 percent in November, while all other business jet activity fell 9 percent.

Domestic business jet flight activity dropped 11 percent in November and international flight activity declined 4 percent, UBS said. Light jets logged the largest year-to-date decline in flight activity (14 percent lower), though midsize and large-cabin jet traffic also fell by 8 percent and 9 percent, respectively.

However, there were notable exceptions to these averages in the UBS data showing activity by aircraft type–Gulfstream III/G300/G350 flight activity plummeted by 24.2 percent year-to-date; Citation CJ2 activity increased by 2.5 percent over the period; and Challenger 300 and Gulfstream G100/G150 flights increased by 14 percent and 13.1 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, UBS reiterated its warning that fewer sources of aircraft financing, a large increase in pre-owned aircraft on the market and a decline in flight activity “presage what we think will be a significant slowing in new aircraft demand.”

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