A lifelong aviation enthusiast who joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in 2007, Curt came to&nbsp;the publication&nbsp;from the broadcast industry where he was a national science and technology television reporter and producer. He writes on the FBO field, aviation finance, and sustainable aviation and occasionally contributes to&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;sister publication&nbsp;Business Jet Traveler. Curt was a member of the AINtv reporting staff that won the 2008 Aerospace Journalist of the Year award for Best Airshow Daily. That same year, he was a finalist for another AJOYA award. He earned an AJOYA for Best Business Aviation Submission in 2018 and was a finalist in that category in 2021. He received the National Air Transportation Association’s&nbsp; Aviation Journalist Award in 2012 and won a Pegasus Sapphire Business Aviation Award for outstanding journalism in 2021.
Before joining AIN, Curt worked with&nbsp;Consumer Reports’ television division, CRTV, and for several local television news staffs. An honors graduate of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, he earned a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from Boston University in 1995. Curt lives in New York State with his wife and two young sons.

Senior Editor

Curt Epstein

The opening of the Summer Olympic Games on Friday in Paris provided a boost to private aviation in the host city. According to industry data tracker Argus International, the overwhelming majority of this traffic went to Le Bourget Airport (LFPB), which saw a more than 34% increase in arrivals last week compared with the same period a year ago. Of the 705 business aircraft arrivals, there were 189 ultra-long-range, 145 large, 83 super-midsize, 64 midsize, and 40 very light jets, as well as 14 twin-engine and 50 single-engine turboprops.
Despite that surge, Argus senior v-p for software Travis Kuhn told AIN that for July, this year’s arrivals at LFBP are down by nearly 10% versus 2023.
Space at LFPB is at a premium, with ExecuJet reporting that its hangar and ramp parking are fully booked. Signature said it received a steady flow of traffic at its facility but, due to high slots and parking restrictions at the airport, it was limited to quick turnarounds since its parking was full as well.
Universal Weather and Aviation noted that it is coordinating spillovers to regional airports where it has made arrangements, adding that due to the high-security measures in and around the French capital, all non-Olympic travel is simply avoiding the area. That, it said, has helped offset some of the congestion.
WingX noted that the Olympics—along with other major July sporting events such as the Euro soccer tournament, Wimbledon, and the British Open Golf Tournament—sparked a 4% increase in business jet activity in Europe compared to the previous month, down 10% compared with the peak in 2022, and a 15% increase from pre-Covid July 2019.

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