Jessica Reed is a writer and editor with AIN. She joined the team in the fall of 2023 after two years covering the aviation industry at Avionics International. She earned her bachelor&#039;s degree in English (Writing &amp; Rhetoric) from Pepperdine University. Her hometown is St. Louis, Missouri, and she since has resided in Santa Barbara, California, and Brooklyn, New York, among others. She is currently based in Philadelphia.

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Jessica Reed

Global business aviation achieved 2.7% growth in the first eight months of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, with operators logging 3.9 million flights worldwide, according to data presented by WingX managing director Richard Koe during the 2025 JetNet iQ Summit last week in Washington, D.C. The growth translates to approximately 450 additional flights per day, with July and August 2025 setting new records for business jet activity.
North America continues to dominate the market, representing 67% of global flight activity, while maintaining steady year-over-year growth of 2.6%. The region has achieved a compound annual growth rate of 4% since 2019, reaching levels 32% higher than pre-pandemic activity. “We’re actually at a record level—2022 was the peak of the rebound after the pandemic. Then we saw a bit of a plateau in 2023 and 2024. Now in 2025, [there are] 32% more business jet sectors than in 2019,” Koe noted during his presentation. “The bizjet fleet over that time, if we’re counting unique units, was up about 20%. So we’ve actually seen an increase in sectors per aircraft.”&nbsp;

Europe presents a stark contrast to North American performance. Koe described the “central European market, Germany, France, where we see a very stagnant economy,” and discussed some factors constraining the European market. “That market is actually smaller now in terms of bizjet activity than back in 2019. The UK economy is equally sort of stagnant but has actually seen an increase of about 12% compared to 2019.” The European market faces headwinds from the Ukraine conflict, which has significantly reduced business jet activities in Eastern Europe and Russia.
“If you look at Scandinavia, we’re actually seeing very strong growth there,” he added. “Most of that is military, government activity on some smaller aircraft.”
Emerging markets demonstrate more robust expansion, with Africa posting 21% growth despite representing only 1% of global activity. The Middle East similarly shows “impressive 6.3% growth,” according to Koe, while also maintaining a modest 1% share of worldwide operations.

Within North America, regional growth patterns reflect broader demographic and economic shifts. The Southwest and Southeast regions lead expansion with 32% and 46% growth, respectively, compared to 2019 levels. Florida emerges as a particular standout, with Miami-area airport business jet activity surging 70% above pre-pandemic levels.
“There’s been a lot of wealth migration in the U.S., particularly around tax migration, and that’s brought millionaires to places like Austin, Scottsdale, Palm Beach,” Koe explained. This migration pattern has fundamentally altered traditional business aviation hubs, with leisure destinations significantly outperforming business airports across the U.S.
The data reveals clear segmentation in aircraft demand, with larger-cabin categories driving overall growth. Ultra-long-range aircraft demonstrate the strongest performance with 66% increased activity compared with 2019, while super-midsize jets show 50% growth over the same period. Combined, these two segments account for 32% of all business jet sectors flown in North America.
Conversely, small-jet growth appears to be “tapering,” according to Koe, with Europe showing “quite solid decline in small jets” in 2025. Entry-level aircraft represent the only segment failing to demonstrate growth compared to pre-pandemic levels.
<h3>Fractional Operations</h3>
The fractional ownership model continues its expansion, showing an 82% increase in flight hours compared to 2019 levels and maintaining an 11% compound annual growth rate over the six-year period. Current fractional operations demonstrate a utilization index of 182, with 2025 activity up 10% year over year.
“What’s interesting is corporate flight activity,” Koe observed. "If we look at fleets tied to specific corporations, we’ve actually seen a reduction at the global level in flight hours. Over that five-year period, we see an 86 [index] representing a 14% reduction in flight hours flown by corporate flight departments.”
<h3>Market Consolidation</h3>
The industry shows clear signs of consolidation, with the top 15 charter and fractional operators in North America achieving 14% growth while the overall market expands at 8%. NetJets leads with 432,089 hours flown in 2025, followed by Flexjet at 187,720 hours. The top five operators—NetJets, Flexjet, FlyExclusive, Vista America, and Wheels Up—now control 65% of the North American charter and fractional market.
“The biggest operators are essentially driving out the smaller operators and gaining market share,” Koe explained. Twenty-five percent of North American business jets now operate at utilization rates exceeding 600 hours annually.
<h3>Fleet Age, Utilization, and Future Outlook</h3>
Newer aircraft demonstrate significantly higher activity levels, with the 0- to 5-year cohort showing 33% increased flight hours in 2025 versus 2024. Despite this trend toward newer equipment, aircraft more than 20 years old still represent nearly 30% of total flight activity, indicating the durability of business aviation assets.
The business aviation sector has demonstrated notable resilience against macroeconomic uncertainties. However, potential headwinds remain, including tariff implementations and supply-chain disruptions. Historical data suggests that economic shocks typically affect business aviation activity with a two-to-three-month lag, as observed during previous trade disputes and banking sector stress events.
Continued deterioration of airline service quality provides ongoing support for business aviation demand. In 2025, business jets serve 172,000 unique city pairs in the U.S. compared with 8,000 offered by all airlines combined.

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