Flight planning is something that is popular with all pilots but depending on the month of the year or even day of the week sometimes flight planning is more popular at certain times compared to others. The summer is usually the busiest period for GA flying. The mild autumn last year led to an extended flying period compared to the early snow of 2010. In relation to months, July last year was the most popular month for flight plans. There was a gradual increase building from January to July and a steady decrease in flight planning from August to December. The majority of flight plans that are made are VFR with IFR flight plans and flight planning being less popular.
The top 5 departure countries
There are around 5 top departure countries when it comes to flight planning. These include Germany, England, France, Italy and Switzerland. As for top airport departure, Guernsey, representing an attractive destination from the UK for a day trip was a popular choice. An interesting departure last year was from Lake Nummijarvi in Sweden. It was also recorded that last year peak departure was at 9:00 UTC with a return flight peak at 15:00. During the summer months, early morning departures started from 04:00 UTC with late nights leaving at 20:00 but in a few cases close to 00:00 UTC when flight planning.
From filing to EOBT when flight planning
It was reported that last year 29% of flights were filed within 2 years of departure in relation to flight planning. Few flight plans were filed greater than 48 hours prior to departure. The cancel rate of flights was low in general last year, with a main reason of bringing forward a flight and weather. Only a small amount of flight plans were recorded as rejected when filed last year in relation to flight planning.
