Stats from above #8

We’re nearly at the end of January, the slopes are starting to fill up with skiers and the world is waking up to business as usual after the winter break. And although most of us are already working through our New Year’s resolutions, we’re not entirely done with last year when it comes to our regular blog series Stats from Above. In this blog series, we zoom in on some of the most intriguing statistics from the world of business aviation including popular destinations, busiest routes and airports, as well as the most used types of jets. For this edition, we’ll be looking at the stats from the last month of 2023, December. If you want to catch up with the previous stats, then we suggest you check out our Stats From Above from November.

Stats from Above

Looking at the stats provided by our partners from the EBAA, we can see that the declining numbers we observed in November have carried on into December as well. That can be chalked up to the holiday seasonsettling in and business around the world slowing down. Zooming in on specific numbers there were 1,310 active airports responsible for a grand total of 47,416 arrival flights in December. Compared to the previous months that is a difference of some 2000 flights and isn’t as significant a drop as we observed from October to November (approximately 14,000 flights).

The number of active jets also decreased by 200 from the previous month accounting for a total of 4,109 active jets in December. Turboprops and Light jets accounted for the most departing flights among all the private aircraft segments accounting for 11,467 and 8,319 departures respectively.

Busiest airports and routes

When it comes to the busiest airports and routes, some proved to be more popular than others in December. The popularity of domestic flights carried on from the previous months with the first seven country flows being domestic. The only minor change in the rankings was that the United Kingdom (3,054 flights) surpassed Germany (2,657) to take second place, while France maintained its first place (3,514 flights). It’s also worth mentioning that the number of flights decreased.

Moving to our favorite segment of this blog, let’s take a peek at the busiest airports by arriving flights. Not surprisingly the triumphant trio makes a return, however, the number of arriving flights has mostly decreased.  Paris Le Bourget comes in first with 1,826 arriving flights, Geneva Cointrin Airport, comes in second with 1,346 improving its numbers by some 150 flights and Farnborough Airport comes in third with 1,032 arrivals.

There are many reasons to visit the capital of France in December, especially when the City of Love is covered in a blanket of snow. You can expect the Christmas spirit to be felt all around the city during December with markets being present in half of the city. One of the most popular is the Tuileries Christmas Market which is filled with vendors offering artisanal Christmas gifts and you can also skate around on the Christmas rink. While another place to consider visiting is the Lumières en Seine event that transforms the Domaine de Saint-Cloud into a winter wonderland. And if you’re up for family fun you can experience Christmas at Disneyland in Paris.

Jet of the month Bombardier Challenger 605

This month’s Jet of the Month is the Bombardier Challenger 605 manufactured by Bombardier Inc., a Canadian business jet manufacturer. As the name suggests the Challenger 605 belongs to the Bombardier Challenger 600 series family of jets. We’ve already covered another of Bombardier’s offerings the XRS Global Express in a previous edition of this blog if you’d like to get up to speed on Bombardier.  Historically the 600 series jets are based on a concept developed by aviation expert Bill Lear which was called theLearJet 600. The Challenger 605 specifically is the successor of the 604. Compared to its predecessor the 605 received larger cabin windows and a new tail cone as well as upgraded avionics.

The Challenger 605 is classified as a long-range business jet and can usually seat up to twelve passengers for a comfortable flight to their destination of choice. However, the number of passengers a jet carries will depend on the individual configuration of the jet and the owner’s preferences. The jet is powered by a pair of General Electric CF34-3B engines, which allow it to reach a long range cruise speed of 424 knotsand a maximum range of 3,995 nautical miles or almost 7,400 kilometers.

As a long-range business jet, the interior of the Challenger 605 is designed lavishly to transport the passengers to faraway destinations in great comfort on long-haul flights. The configurations usually consist of lush comfortable executive seats arranged in a club seating format, a board room arrangement as well as bench seating.

Now that we’ve summarized some of the things you can expect from a Bombardier Challenger 605 ranging from the distances it can fly up to the cabin interior combinations, let’s look at how much you can expect to pay for the amenities it affords.  

There are several things that have an impact on the final price of a jet, including the cabin configuration and amenities, how long the jet has been in service, if it has been properly maintained, or what kind of engine maintenance program it has been enrolled in. When it comes to the Bombardier Challenger 605, the pre-owned models can cost anywhere from around US$10 million up to around US$15 million. There are some 300 jets of this model in active service today.  If you’re looking to purchase one of the jets on offer you might not want to dwell on the decision too long since they tend to be off the market within 4 months.  

If you’d like to purchase a Bombardier Challenger 605, but are unsure where to start the purchasing process, we’d be happy to assist you on your jet-buying journey, so, don’t hesitate to contact us.