Asia-Pacific Business Jet Flight Activity – 2022 Q3 Review

Continuing on from the trend we saw in Q2 2022, business aviation flights saw 30% year-on-year growth in Q3 2022, with an average of 4,588 monthly flights. The focus of countries around the world has revolved around stimulating their economies over the past few months. However, global economic growth has recently started to slow down, as the International Monetary Fund pointed out in the latest world economic outlook. Flight activity in the Asia-Pacific region has subsided compared to the last two quarters.

Southeast Asian countries, namely Singapore and Malaysia, are still taking the lead in Asia-Pacific flights. Long-range and international became the two keywords for the activity seen in the 2022 third quarter. Emerging markets not only stimulated business activity but also attracted overseas travelers and investors, and thus, saw an increase in business jet flight activity.

A total of 228 departures were recorded on September 29 for the third quarter of 2022, which, however, still did not surpass the highest number seen in the previous quarter. Although flight activity in the third quarter of 2022 did not see an upward trend as at the beginning of the year, daily departures did observe a noticeable increase compared to the same timeframe last year and the year before. The average daily flight departures from Asia-Pacific in the third quarter of 2020 and 2021 were 117 and 149, respectively. Ultra high-net-worth individuals are the primary users of business jets. In addition to leisure travel, these flights may indicate a renewed interest from entrepreneurs to continue doing business or expand their business within the Asia-Pacific region.

Flights started to lean towards international flights compared to the third quarter of 2021, with opened borders and relaxed quarantines being the main reason for this shift. American travelers and investors are the main contributors to the long-range flights observed in the Asia-Pacific region. Flights that last more than five hours increased by 114% versus the same quarter in 2021.

Routes between Southeast Asian countries have gained popularity since the beginning of 2022 with eight of the top connections within this subregion. One main driver of business activity is Singapore’s asset management industry, which grew to record size in 2021, outpacing global growth in the sector as many entrepreneurs and investors moved their funds to the city-state. Total assets increased by 16% in 2021 to S$5.4 trillion, according to the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

All countries/subregions with a comparably large number of departures saw year-on-year growth in business jet flight activity, except for Greater China. Flight activity in Japan started to slow down, but the country is still seeing overall growth. As the Japanese Yen was weaker against the United States Dollar, it attracted international investors, which resulted in rapid growth in the second quarter of 2022. Now that the inflation rate in Japan has increased and the government has begun to intervene in the exchange market, many businesses in Japan are unable to reverse their decline. This downturn also hampered growth in Japanese flight activity in the latest quarter.

Although Southeast Asian countries are taking the lead in growth, India still dominates flight activity in Asia-Pacific, however growth was less pronounced compared to other Southeast Asian countries. The consumer electronics market in India continues to grow, and the government continues to promote related manufacturers to establish their presence in the country. This encourages people in the consumer electronics industry to book their trips to and from India.

GREATER CHINA DEPARTURES

Greater China continued to see negative growth in the third quarter mostly due to restrictive policies still in place. Hong Kong lifted its hotel quarantine policy in late September, however third quarter business jet flight activity has not yet fully reflected this. The majority of flights departing from Greater China last between 30 minutes to three hours, indicating that most flights are domestic.

Aircraft built by Bombardier, Textron, and Gulfstream accounted for 72% of flights departing from Asia-Pacific in the third quarter. Bombardier’s Global Express/6000/6500 remained the most popular model in the region, followed by another long-range aircraft – Gulfstream G650/G650ER. With 63% of Asia-Pacific flights still domestic, Embraer’s Legacy 600/650 came in third. With international flights gaining more popularity, Boeing’s BBJ family saw the greatest year-over-year growth in flight activity.

TOP CITY FLIGHT ACTIVITY TRENDS

Singapore continued to see the most flight activity in Asia-Pacific, with growth of roughly 250% compared with the same quarter last year. The development of the nation’s financial system and tax exemptions attracted overseas investors to set up family offices in the city-state. Business engagement in Singapore also led to more business jet flights to and from the country bringing more flights in the surrounding countries, such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines.