European business aviation flights ebbed 0.8 percent year-over-year in February, a decline that WingX said, in part, reflected the effects of Covid-19. The drop in February chipped away at gains made a month earlier, but traffic through the first two months of the year remained 1.7 percent ahead of 2019, according to WingX’s latest monthly Business Aviation Monitor.

“February trends were disappointing, coming off a strong January 20 performance, but the effects of Covid-19 are already evident, with business jet arrivals from China down by 30 percent [year-over-year], and Germany's market seeing the largest impact of the virus crisis in Asia,” said WingX managing director Richard Koe.

The dip in February activity jumps to 3 percent when adjusting for Leap Year, and the first week of March marked a 6 percent decline with a 40 percent drop in flights from Italy.

In February, business aviation flight activity slumped 13 percent in Germany. UK flights also declined. Large-jet activity, in particular, was down in Germany but up in Switzerland, Italy, and Austria. Russia led the increase in charter activity.

“Within Europe, there was some growth in February, notably in the ski-season flights connecting Moscow, Geneva, Chambery, also solid growth in large-jet activity in London airports,” Koe said. “But looking ahead, we can already see the escalating negative effect of virus containment measures in Europe.”