From 1-20 January, global business jet flights are up three per cent compared to last year according to WingX’s weekly Global Market Tracker, with the active aircraft fleet one per cent larger than the same period last year. Week three, through 19th January, included the run up to Trump’s inauguration, drawing a large number of business jets to Washington, one contributor to the 11 per cent growth in business jet flights compared to week three of 2024.

The main story in the US this week is the inauguration of President Trump, with the ceremony held on Monday, 20 January and the preceding days seeing a substantial surge in business jet traffic into Washington DC airports. During the Friday to Sunday weekend prior to the ceremony (17-19 January), over 700 business jet arrivals were recorded into Washington DC airports, representing 300 per cent more than during the previous weekend (10-12 January) and four times more than in the three days prior to President Biden’s inauguration in 2021. On 17 January there were almost 300 business jet arrivals into the Washington metro area. The busiest departure cities for the DC arrivals were New York and West Palm Beach. Super midsize and ultra long-range jets served most of the demand, with the busiest operator types fractional and aircraft management fleets flying an almost equal number of flights. Business jet activity in the US since the election (6 November-20 January) is four per cent ahead of the comparable last year, contrasting with the one per cent decline in the first 10 months of 2024.

This week Davos in Switzerland plays host to the latest annual general meeting of the World Economic Forum. Business jet arrivals into neighbouring Dubendorf, Zurich, St Gallen-Altenrhein and Samedan airports began to rise towards the end of last week. During the Friday to Sunday weekend (17-19 January) prior to the event, 183 business jet arrivals were recorded into airports near Davos, representing two more arrivals than the weekend prior to the event in 2024. The Monday to Friday event last year saw over 400 business jet arrivals at nearby airports, with over 100 business jet arrivals recorded on the opening Monday of this year’s event. Despite the hosting of WEF, business jet activity across Switzerland this month is 11 per cent down on January 2024.

Elsewhere across Europe, France and the United Kingdom are the busiest markets, starting this month four per cent and two per cent ahead of last January. Domestic activity in France is 10 per cent ahead of last year, connections from France to the UK are six per cent ahead, and connections to Italy and Germany are up 23 per cent compared to last year. For just week three, the European market is much slower, with six per cent fewer business jet movements than same week last year. Business jet arrivals into Switzerland were down by 22 per cent in week three.

So far in January, activity outside of the US and Europe is one per cent behind last year, but with a stronger week three where movements are up by four per cent. South America is showing strong growth in business jet activity, increasing 19 per cent year on year, with the vast majority of traffic private. The Middle East continues to see some decline with three per cent fewer flights, and those out of Africa are trailing by 11 per cent compared to last year. Across all the OEM fleets outside North America and Europe, the majority of flights are being served by Cessna business jets, with the active fleet growing one per cent compared to last year. Bombardier and Embraer fleets are seeing strong activity growth in both departures and active fleet compared to last year.

Richard Koe, WingX managing director, comments: “The bumper arrival of business jets for the inauguration appears to confirm the strong sense in the industry that the change in the US government is good news for the business jet industry. The turnaround in business jet activity in the US, which had been flat through most of last year, stands in contrast to the European market, where activity receded six per cent in the last week and is trending at 2019 levels.”