(Bloomberg) -- Corporate jet travel to London has cratered, and many U.S. cities are also starting to see a drop off as coronavirus precautions spread.
Even as some private jet operators report demand from wealthy travelers looking to avoid commercial travel or to handle group evacuations, data collected by JetTrack show dramatic declines in the use of planes owned or leased by Russell 3000 companies, U.S. hedge fund and private equity firms.
Numerous companies have announced restrictions on employee travel in an effort to prevent the spread of infection. That’s led to cancellations of conferences and other events. On Friday, the mayor of Austin, Texas, pulled the plug on the South by Southwest festival, a key event for technology companies.
“Executives are still going to travel to meet with other executives,” said Colby Howard, president of Paragon Intel, which provides the JetTrack data. “But no one is going to put themselves in the mix of a thousand other people, especially with executives being on average in higher-risk age groups.”
The biggest change is in flights arriving in London, which plunged 71% last week and almost 50% this year. That may reflect more widespread testing in Europe that means more companies restricting travel to infected areas, Howard said.
New York saw about an 18% decline in corporate jet arrivals last week, while Seattle had a 33% drop and Houston fell 26%. U.S. arrivals overall declined by 12%.
As testing ramps up and more cases are discovered, U.S. arrivals might plunge even more, Howard said. “There will be a move to restrict travel to only the most essential, high- trips for executives,” he said.
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