Writer

Charlotte Bailey

At the annual conference of the British Business and General Aviation (BBGA) in London late last week, the group's chairperson, Aoife O’Sullivan, reflected on a sector “defined by its agility” as it marks its 50th anniversary. With global demand having experienced a particularly strong uptick in the final quarter of 2025, this year’s more moderate 3% growth to date continues to be bolstered by increased military use of civilian platforms, augmented repatriation efforts following the Iran conflict, and a steady few percentage point growth forecast for the next few years.
"Our once-cottage industry, which was originally defined by small airfields, piston air taxis and the HS.125 [Hawker Siddeley jet] has elevated to today’s flagship private terminals, hosting near-supersonic, long-range business jets and dedicated MROs here in the UK,” O'Sullivan reflected.
The UK industry still seeks to operate at a pan-European level—even in the wake of the country's Brexit departure from the European Union. However, earlier this month BBGA and the European Business Aviation Association ended the dual membership agreement they have operated for the past 10 years. The two associations confirmed the change as a mutual decision, saying that they "were not able to reach alignment on subscription fees."
Presenting industry data, WingX CEO Richard Koe described the Europe sector's compound annual growth rate of just 2% in the 50 years from 1975 to 2025 as "quite frankly miserable."&nbsp;These five decades can be characterized by three main periods of growth: the 11% boom of the 1970s, the pre-millennium rise of 24%, and the late 2000s more moderate 17% rise in business aircraft deliveries. Although these three were respectively curtailed by the energy recession, ‘dotcom bubble burst’ and global financial crisis, subsequent post-2010 growth has been significantly slower at a more stable 1%.
<h2>Aircraft Deliveries and Retirements</h2>
Although “deliveries have really slowed down” in recent months, something Koe believes is distorting the overall growth picture, 33% of the aircraft delivered some 30 years ago remain operational today. “A lot of aircraft that represented the start of this 50 year period are still with us now, and expected to be for a further ten years,” he added.
In 2025, over 315 Learjet 35s – a type manufactured between 1973 and 1993 – flew over 38,000 sectors worldwide. Another Learjet, the 45XR, is also used extensively by Northern Ireland-based specialist medical provider 247 Aviation. “Repatriation medicine is changing globally. There’s a definite push to start to professionalize transfer medicine,” explained aeromedical services director Gareth Evans, who cited an increasing trend towards dedicated critical-care configured platforms.
While air ambulances typically use turboprop King Airs for regional work, upcoming redundancy is always a cause for consideration. Noting that “there’s another ten years or more in the Learjet, so [immediate obsolescence] isn’t an immediate problem,” Evans added that it’s nevertheless “very hard to find something that competes on the price of the Learjet” which continues to offer “the best fit for the industry.” 247 Aviation believes that, with Bombardier’s support, it is “very happy [it] can sustain a business model” for at least a decade with the Learjet.
Globally, fleet distribution from 1990 to 2025 shows North America to have the largest rise in units, from 59% to 67%, while Latin America posted a drop from 26% to 12%. Europe-based aircraft are up a more moderate 3%, despite a steady reduction in UK-registered aircraft in recent years: down from 444 in 2013 to 251 in 2025. Asia, meanwhile, has seen “relatively the biggest change” since 2010, with a doubling of the continent’s representative fleet.
<h2>Future Flight Working Group</h2>
BBGA also announced the establishment of a new Future Flight working group that will address opportunities for urban and regional air mobility. The group, which is led by SaxonAir CEO Alex Durand, will guide the BBGA board on how the UK industry can best capitalize on the news sector.
"Moving into our sixth decade, we see advanced air mobility and clean technologies like eSAF advancing in the rear-view mirror," commented Durand, who is also vice chair of BBGA. "It is therefore opportune to harness our accumulated knowledge and expertise and help this sector flourish in the future with us."
The new group sits alongside existing BBGA working groups covering operations, airworthiness, FBOs, sustainability and membership/events. Companies or individuals interested in joining the group are encouraged to contact BBGA managing director Lindsey Oliver.

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