Gibraltar Airport is continuing to experience ongoing growth in the area of non-scheduled services. According to the government, an annual record of 469 non-scheduled aircraft used Gibraltar Airport in 2021, 19.9 per cent more than the previous year. The total of 3,821 passengers on these flights also was higher than in 2020, by 4.4 per cent.
This followed a 5.2 increase in the number of flights in 2019 (401), compared with 2018 (381), and a relatively low 2.5 per cent drop from 2019 to 2020 (391), “an extremely difficult year for scheduled services and the aviation industry in general, with air travel practically grinding to a halt worldwide”.
Comprising the full spectrum of aircraft movements that are not part of regular scheduled services by airlines, non-scheduled services at Gibraltar Airport include light general aviation aircraft, business and corporate charters, and medium to large private aircraft operated by their owners.
Noting that the work done by the government to recuperate scheduled services in 2021 had clearly not affected this type of operation, minister for commercial aviation Vijay Daryanani said, “This is one of the success stories of our airport, and the government is pleased to report this increase and the important contribution that these services provide to the local economy, the Finance Centre and to Gibraltar PLC in general.
“We live in difficult times but these figures show how important Gibraltar has become for business purposes. Although non-scheduled flights are by their nature ad hoc and very difficult to predict, I will continue working to do my best to see that this trend continues.”