Stats from above #2

Another month has flown by and that means one thing, well it could mean a lot of things, but since you’re here, it means that you’re eager to read our next installment in the monthly Stats From Above blog series. If you’re not familiar with the blog, it’s where we share the most interesting insights from the world of business aviation. This includes various stats such as, most popular routes, busiest airports, and other interesting facts a busy business jet flier might want to know. If you’d like to get quick refresher on the stats from the previous month, you can take a peek at our blog from May.

Stats from above

The business jet aviation segment is still on an upwards trajectory and the stats for June are here to prove it. We referred to our partners at the EBAA, to get a better grasp of how the situation has developed over the previous month.

Compared to the May we can safely say that the numbers clearly state that June has been a good month for business jet aviation. While in May, year-to-date (YTD), we have seen a grand total of 67,017 flights in the ECAC area, June YTD has seen that number rise to 79,820, that’s a whopping 19% increase from the previous month.

Looking at the bigger picture, although June 2023 has been a busy month for business jetsetters, it hasn’t been as busy as June 2022, seeing a drop of 7.3% compared to the previous year. However, before jumping to conclusions about the drop, we’re still in recovery post pandemic and in comparison, to June 2021 we’re still seeing an increase of 10% in the total number of flights.

Busiest airports and routes

Moving to a more granular view, the rankings have not changed in the past month with the top three remaining the same and in the same order. France remains the busiest country by number of flights 29,304 YTD, with the UK coming in a second with 21,521 and Germany closing up the top three with 17,776. Once again France boasts two out of the three busiest airports – Paris Le Bourget coming in first and Nice Côte d‘Azur coming in third. Geneva international airport has risen through the ranks to claim second place.

Transitioning from the three of the busiest airports we’ll be looking at the busiest routes. The route between Geneva International and Le Bourget, with 1,809 flights departing from Geneva to Paris remains the busiest in June as well. Meanwhile Le Bourget is also a one half of the second busiest route with 1,232 flights departing from Paris to land at Nice Côte d‘Azur. With the summer in full swing, it’s no surprise that jetsetters are escaping the sweltering heat of the city to cool down in the waves of the French Riviera. The theme of internal flights continues with the third busiest route from Roma Ciampino to Milano Linate boasting 888 flights. Perhaps frequent flyers were eager to sample the special flavours that were offered at the 8th edition of the Ice-Cream festival that took place in Milan.

Jet of the Month

July’s Jet of the Month is an icon of both the skies and the screen, the Gulfstream G550. The jet has proven to be quite popular both with fictional characters and real-life celebrities. For the fictional part, the BAU from Criminal Minds often uses a G550 to get to their latest mission, while Ari (played by Jeremy Piven) from Entourage used it to fly around in several episodes. As for the real-life A-listers who own a G550, there’s Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, Tiger Woods and Elon Musk, just to name a few.

It‘s hardly surprising that the Gulfstream G550 is favored by the crème de la crème of the business, sports and entertainment world. With an astounding flight range of 12,501 km, the G550 can get you to most destinations without having to refuel. Additionally, you can take a whole party with you onboard since the plane can accommodate up to 16 passengers. Vacations suddenly sound a lot more fun, don’t they!

From a numbers perspective the Gulfstream G550 proves to be a very popular jet. During its production time over 600 jets were manufactured by General Dynamics’ Gulfstream Aerospace over a span of almost two decades. While new models retailed around the 60 million USD mark, currently the average price for well-kept model is approximately around 19 million USD. The price of course varies depending on different factors, such as the configuration of the jet, the number of jets that are on sale and other variables that impact the market price. Continuing with the numbers, the G550 keeps on proving to be a very popular jet. On average, the jets usually spend around 80 days on the market before finding their new owner. So if you’re looking to buy an excellent jet with a sterling reputation and amazing brand presence, you should definitely consider taking a look at the Gulfstream G550.

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