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The Most Popular Private Jet Routes Around the World


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The most popular private jet routes around the world tend to begin or end in New York or London.

That’s according to information gathered by global real estate consultancy Knight Frank in its annual Wealth Reports.

They have been following private jet travel the past few years as part of Knight Frank’s analysis of global real estate markets.

Each year’s Wealth Report has looked at different aspects of private jet travel, which makes year-on-year comparisons tricky. But some broad themes do emerge.

Private Jet Travel in 2015

The 2015 Wealth Report ranked the top 10 routes for private jets in terms of flights and route growth.

Private Jet Traffic: Top 10 Routes

1. Moscow to Nice / Cote d’Azur
2. Miami to New York*
3. New York* to Los Angeles
4. New York* to West Palm Beach
5. London to New York*
6. London to Moscow
7. London to Nice / Cote d’Azur
8. Chicago to New York*
9. Houston to New York*
10. West Palm Beach to New York**

*Teterboro, NJ
**West Chester/White Plains, NY

Although Moscow and Nice/Cote d’Azur made the number one spot in 2015, New York is the destination in five of the top ten jet routes. London is next with three appearances on the list.

Potentially driven by a mix of private jet flights to New York for business, returns from Miami weekends and trips to the West Coast, New York shows up a total of seven times out of 20 available slots on the Top 10 list.

To further illustrate New York and London’s dominance, the cities also make multiple appearances in 2015’s fastest-growing-routes list.

Private Jet Traffic: Top 10 Fastest-Growing Routes

1. Nice/Cote d’Azur to New York
2. Maiquetia (VZ) to Miami
3. Dubai to London
4. Pittsburgh to New York*
5. Houston to West Palm Beach
6. Moscow to Tel Aviv
7. Houston to Midland (Texas)
8. Lagos to London
9. Austin TX to Houston
10. Houston to Washington, D.C.

As the country with the highest private jet ownership by far, the United States understandably figures heavily in this list.

Representation of oil sector locations such as Houston, Lagos, Moscow and Dubai also makes sense, since oil and gas is among the most common wealth sources among private jet passengers, according to Knight Frank.

2016 Private Jet ‘Hotspots’

The 2016 Wealth Report examined the way certain annual events tend to produce “private jet hotspots”. It noted that most flights were to events in the United States and Europe. The list of annual events driving private jet travel includes:

  • The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland (January)
  • The Super Bowl (February)
  • The Kentucky Derby in the United States and Grand Prix in Monaco (May)
  • Art Basel, Switzerland (June)
  • Thanksgiving in the United States (November)

2017 Private Jet Flights

The 2017 Wealth Report, released in March, looked at one-way private jet flights between selected countries and airports as well as jet ownership patterns.

Selected country-to-country routes and five-year growth rate

1. United States to United States (13 percent)
5. Mexico to United States (37 percent)
7. United Kingdom to United Kingdom (2 percent)
8. Bahamas to United States (14 percent)
27. France to Russia (-23 percent)
Selected airport-to-airport routes, one way, and five-year growth rate
1. LA Van Nuys to Las Vegas McCarran (11 percent)
3. NY Teterboro to Washington Dulles (2 percent)
6. Miami Palm Beach to Teterboro (12 percent)
9. Geneva Airport to Paris Le Bourget (-9 percent)
32. Nice/Cote d’Azur to Paris Le Bourget (9 percent)
41. Nice/Cote d’Azur to Moscow Vnukovo (-17 percent)

The number one single airport-to-airport route was Los Angeles to Las Vegas (Van Nuys to McCarran). At 2,202 flights in 2016, the route saw an 11 percent growth over the past five years.

Although New York private jet traffic in 2016 represented nearly double that figure, its traffic was divided between two almost-as-big routes so it didn’t grab the top spot. New York to Washington, D.C. (Teterboro to Dulles) ranked as the third most popular one way flight at 2,175. Miami (Palm Beach) to New York (Teterboro) saw 1,810 flights in 2016.

Added together, that’s 3,985 New York flights in 2016 alone.

Private Jet Ownership

Another way to understand private jet route popularity is to look at private jet ownership patterns. The United States ranks first with 12,717 private jets, which is more than the rest of the Top 10 nations combined.

Top 10 Countries by Jet Numbers

1. United States (12,717)
2. Mexico (950)
3. Brazil (786)
4. Canada (534)
5. Germany (435)
6. UK (345)
7. Venezuela (340)
8. China (277)
9. France (227)
10. Australia (193)

The United States has more than 10 times the number of private jets as Mexico, the next nearest country on the list. That’s why it’s no surprise that destinations and origins in the United States dominate global lists of popular private jet routes.

 

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About the author

Mae has travelled to over 40 countries and lived in 8. Born in St. Petersburg, Mae grew up in Lithuania and has spent most of her adult life in the UK. She has been blogging for over 8 years and is the lead editor on Travel Belles.

1 thought on “The Most Popular Private Jet Routes Around the World”

  1. Dubai to London is the fastest growing route in 2017 followed by Pittsburgh to New York, that will be the best trip for me. 😀

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