“General and Business Aviation provide closely tailored, flexible, door to door transportation for individuals, enterprises and local communities, increasing mobility of people, productivity of businesses and regional cohesion.” Communication from the European Commission - An Agenda for Sustainable Future in General and Business Aviation, 11 January 2008
Business Aviation is an air transport option tailored to the specific needs of company executives. It provides efficient, productive and secure business travel to accommodate schedules and reach destinations not compatible with the limitations set by commercial airline itineraries.
According to a PriceWaterhouseCoopers study issued in late 2008, the European business aviation sector contributed a total of €19.7bn in annual gross value added (GVA) to the European economy and accounted for approximately 0.2% of the combined GDP of the European Union (EU), Norway and Switzerland. Moreover it provided 164k jobs, with €5.7 billion generated in salaries and wages.
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The vast majority of business jets are owned by governments and companies who make their aircraft available for transporting government officials, business leaders, and sales and marketing teams, or to shuttle Engineers and Project Managers offsite. Less than 3% are owned privately.
In the past, business aviation users principally accounted for large corporations. Today’s users increasingly include mid-tier management and mid-market firms. With the introduction of lower-cost light jets onto the market, this corporate segment is also able to capitalize on the many benefits of private business travel.
