Flight numbers are continuing to recover to pre-pandemic levels after the lifting of many Covid-19 travel restrictions, according to the latest bizav traffic data from specialist analyst WingX Advance. Overall global traffic for early June, it reported, was 49% up compared to the same period in 2020 and just 5.3% below the June 2019 figure.

In Europe, business jet flights are operating at 18% below pre-pandemic levels but the first five months of 2021 saw a 33% increase over the same period last year. This contrasts with the seismic decline in commercial airline activity, which was 71% lower than pre-pandemic levels. May and early June brought significant growth in traffic numbers in certain markets – particularly Spain and Greece. But traffic in France was down by 13%, Scandinavia by 20% and the UK by 28%, against the same period in 2019.

Traffic in North America continues to build, with charter flights showing as the most successful sector. In fact, six US states have seen charter activity at a higher level than 2019 – with Florida leading the charge with a 40% increase over 2019 levels. In another example, bizav flights out of New York airports are up by 60% on 2020 and are 4% above pre-pandemic levels.