UP FRONT
RECORD BREAKER
BUSINESS AVIATION’S ‘BEST EVER YEAR’
Richard Koe, MD, WINGX Advance charts the hot spots for business aircraft traffic in this global round up.
UP FRONT
RECORD BREAKER
BUSINESS AVIATION’S ‘BEST EVER YEAR’
Richard Koe, MD, WINGX Advance charts the hot spots for business aircraft traffic in this global round up.
2025 WAS the busiest ever for business aviation based on WINGX Advance’s analysis of more than 20 years of flight records. During the past 12 months, WINGX tracked 5.5 million flights worldwide, operated by 40,456 aircraft, combining more than 8 million hours airtime. That was a 4.2% increase in sectors compared with 2024.
The market was 2.7% busier than the previous post-Covid peak year of 2023. More than a third (40%) of global flight activity was generated by business turboprop flying. Worldwide business jet flights climbed more than 5%. Let's turn now to business jet traffic in the key markets.
NORTH AMERICA
Trump Bump gains
The North American market powered more than 70% of global activity. Flights climbed by more than 5% compared with the previous year. Growth reflected President Trump’s re-election and followed 18 months of stagnant demand since the post-Covid spike in activity in 2022 and 2023. The tariff-induced shock to the economy in spring 2025 barely dented flight demand in North America and in the fourth quarter, year-on-year (YoY) trends were closer to 10%. Florida consolidated its position as the North American hub for flights, with 12% of business jet departures, up by 5% compared with 2024 and up nearly 50% on 2019. California, once the busiest US state pre-Covid, trailed Texas and saw some erosion in flight activity towards the end of 2025.
LATIN AMERICA
Charter up +10%
Business jet flight activity was up by 12% and represents almost 10% of global activity, with more than 8,700 tails active in the region at some point last year. The busiest operator type was private flight departments – accounting for almost 30% of flight hours, which was a rise of 8% on the previous year. Both corporate flight departments, responsible for 20% of activity, and aircraft management, claiming 20% of activity, saw year-on-year declines. Charter operations in Latin America were up by over 10% and fractional operators, making up only 6% of activity, accounted for nearly 20% of flights.
EUROPE
Super mids buck the trend
Business jet demand saw weak growth in 2025, up just 1.3% compared with the previous year and barely 3% above 2019 levels contributing one tenth of the global traffic total. The regional distribution of flight activity trends is clear with declines in Germany and Austria, modest upticks in the leading UK and France markets, stagnation in Eastern Europe and Western-Russia and strong demand in the Mediterranean regions. Super mid and ultra-long-range jet activity bucked the trends. Both segments saw over 6% growth in sectors last year.
AFRICA
Barely 1% of all bizav flights
Africa accounted for barely 1% of global business jet flights, but showed strong growth, up by 15% compared with 2024. Despite the relatively small contribution to global activity, more than 1,400 operators were active in the region during the year, across 547 regional airports. South Africa, with 20% of regional activity, was the standout performer with departures up by almost 50%. This offset declines in bizjet activity in Nigeria and Morocco. Other African markets with conspicuous growth in business jet activity last year included Egypt, Kenya and Angola. Nearly one third (31%) of total flight activity in Africa last year was operated by aircraft management companies.
MIDDLE EAST
Favours large aircraft
The Middle East accounted for 2.7% of global business jet activity in 2025 but continues to show robust growth with departures up by 8% compared with 2024. Investment in infrastructure, deregulation and tourist industries appears to be offsetting the headwinds from long-running conflicts and security concerns. The market was characterised by demand for large aircraft. Heavy jets and ultra-long-range jets operating 60% of departures, both achieved double digit increases compared with 2024. Light jet and super light jet segments claimed less than 10% of activity and both segments saw a drop in activity compared with the previous year.
ASIA
Robust corporate growth
Across Asia, excluding the Middle East, WINGX tracked more than 107,000 business jet departures last year from 1,643 operators at more than 1,000 airports. Growth in business jet activity was 3.7%, with significant decline in midsize jet activity, contrasting with strong growth in super light sectors, which were up by 21%. Almost 50% of total flight hours across the region were operated by ultra long-range jets, up by 7% compared with the previous year. The busiest operator type was aircraft management. But activity was down year-on-year compared with corporate flight departments, which had relatively robust growth of more than 3% last year.
