European traffic levels continue to dampen the global figures, which showed a decline of 3% YoY in the first two months of 2024, according to Richard Koe, CEO of data analyst WingX, who was delivering a summary of bizav traffic trends at the British Business & General Aviation Association (BBGA) conference.

European traffic fell by 7% in 2023 compared to 2022, while North America recorded a fall of 4% for the same period. It was clear, however, that the prospects for North America were more positive than for Europe, which continues to battle economic uncertainty and sluggish growth, coupled with the continuing fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Europe has now fallen back to 2019 levels of activity and has not sustained the step change seen elsewhere after the pandemic,” said Koe. Adding to the impact of the war in Ukraine, Koe noted that there had been a 16% decline in activity due directly to the imposition of sanctions on entities and individuals associated with the Putin administration.

Outside Europe and North America, the mood music in 2023 was far more positive. Traffic in Asia increased by 28% in 2023 compared to 2022, while in Africa it increased by 26% and in Latin America it increased by 16%. It should be noted however that these three regions account for less than 10% of total global traffic numbers.