Business Jet Traffic Spikes; But Not Expected to Last With Omicron

With the reemergence of travel restrictions based on the Omicron variant of COVID-19 this is not likely to last, business jet traffic for the first three weeks of November was up almost 20 percent over that of the same period in pre-pandemic 2019—and close to 60 percent up from the same time frame last year. That is according to traffic analysis from flight-tracking specialist WingX.

Numbers for North America traffic were up by 17 percent over 2019, WingX reported, and 50 percent better in the U.S. than it was in COVID-ravaged 2020. Again, compared with pre-pandemic 2019, November’s European traffic was up 29 percent for the first three weeks, with the U.K. showing an increase in business jet travel that trends toward a 25 percent increase for the entire month.

But following news of the emergence of the Omicron, governments in the Asia-Pacific region imposed travel restrictions. Departures during the first three weeks of November were down by 11 percent in Turkey, while traffic dipped by 40 percent in China, compared to the same period in 2019.