LA-based brokerage Exquisite Air Charter has released its quarterly report on business aviation industry projections for the remainder of 2023, finding that private aviation demand should remain steady, below 2022 but above pre-Covid levels, primarily fuelled by shorter flights.

While demand has peaked around the globe, all signs show that it will remain well above pre-Covid levels. This is explained in part by the first-time private jet flyers who entered the market due to the outbreak and aren't ready yet to return to commercial aviation because of the mounting inefficiencies, especially during national and global peak travel seasons.

Furthermore, as recently reported by WingX, 53 per cent of business jet flights in early 2023 in the US were only 1.5 hours long or less, a trend that will remain constant throughout 2023, according to Exquisite CEO Rena Davenport: “We are getting a lot of requests for light jets for shorter trips; the Citation Bravo, Nextant 400XTi and Learjet 31 are the three most chartered in the past two to three months. Also, some turboprops like the King Air, Pilatus PC-12 and Avanti II.”

She continues: “Big plane usage is down today because when the market was completely overwhelmed during COVID it was difficult to find availability on ultra-long-range jets that would approve a shorter flight; owners and management companies refused to even quote the shorter trips.”

Furthermore, the company reports that the industry is still a very strong one-way market, with prices remaining high and with no signs of a to return to pre-COVID levels.

“While this trend might change for busy travel holidays like the upcoming Fourth of July, we envision the one-way market to remain strong while allowing customers to obtain great deals through empty leg opportunities, which usually sell at near half the price for the same route and aircraft,” she concludes.