In Week 40 (29 September- 5 October), global business jet activity reached 75,651 departures, according to WingX's Weekly Global Market Tracker, down five per cent compared to the prior week (Week 39) but up five per cent on Week 40 of 2024. On a rolling last four-week basis (Week 37 to Week 40), global business jets have accumulated 314,000 departures, representing an eight per cent increase compared to the same period last year.

The streak continues with 24 consecutive weeks of year-on-year growth. Out of the 40 weeks so far in 2025, 37 posted gains, with the biggest surge of 13 per cent occurring in Week 37 and the largest decline of just three per cent taking place in Week 16.

Q3 2025 shattered records with over one million departures, becoming WingX's busiest quarter ever, up 6.6 per cent from Q3 2024 and a massive 33 per cent above Q3 2019's 750,000 flights.

Fractional operators fuelled the boom, surging 12 per cent in Q3. All top 10 fractional providers grew year-on-year, while NetJets commanded 57 per cent of fractional traffic with 14 per cent growth. Other standouts include Flexjet (+19 per cent), Executive AirShare (+nine per cent), Planesense (+23 per cent) and JetFly Aviation (+10 per cent). Fractionals now represent 19 per cent of all business jet activity.

Charter operations lagged significantly, crawling forward just 0.7 per cent on last year. One bright spot however was top charter operator flyExclusive, which posted 13 per cent year-on-year growth.

Beyond fractional and charter flights, Q3 trends turned negative. Aircraft management flights slipped 1.5 per cent, private operations fell 0.9 per cent and corporate flight departments declined 5.7 per cent.

The North American market recorded four per cent more activity in Week 40 2025 than Week 40 2024, with total departures at 53,357. The US mirrored this trend with a four per cent expansion and 51,523 flights. Among key states, trends varied with Texas realising seven per cent growth, California four per cent growth and finally Florida two per cent growth. North America's rolling four-week trend tells a stronger story, now standing at nine per cent ahead of the comparable period in 2024.

The big three states are driving momentum. Over the past four weeks, Florida and Texas both surged eight per cent while California rose seven per cent, collectively powering North America's robust four-week performance.

Canada is also having a breakout year. Q3 2025 delivered over 26,000 business jet flights, which is the busiest third quarter on record and more than 50 per cent above Q3 2019 levels.

The European market outperformed the overall global trend in Week 40, with flights rising six per cent compared to Week 40 in 2024. The top country performers in Europe were the UK and Germany, with both recording a notable a nine per cent increase in flights compared to Week 40 last year. Switzerland and Italy grew below the European market trend, notching two and three per cent gains respectively, while France was stagnant with no growth last week. Over the last four weeks, European activity has totalled over 50,000 flights, reflecting a modest three per cent growth.

The UK's and Germany's nine per cent growth last week was a significant improvement compared to their year-to-date trends of +1.5 per cent and -6.3 per cent respectively.

Week 40 business jet activity saw significant growth trends outside of North America and Europe. South America led growth yet again, outperforming mature markets with 28 per cent higher traffic levels year-on-year. Africa was right behind with a 23 per cent increase and saw the second largest growth amongst ROW regions, while Middle East activity grew 15 per cent and Asia grew 10 per cent. These trends compare to the year-to-date growth rates of +9.5 per cent, +13.8 per cent, +7.0 per cent and +2.1 per cent, for the four regions respectively.

The Trump administration announced that funding for the Essential Air Service (EAS) programme will expire on Sunday, 12 October, as part of an ongoing partial government shutdown. The programme subsidises commercial air services to 65 Alaska communities and 112 communities across the other 49 states and Puerto Rico that otherwise may lack scheduled air service. Among 28 participating airlines, SkyWest Airlines dominates with $195.8 million in annual government funding, serving 36 communities nationwide.

SkyWest operates these routes under its regional carrier brands: Delta Connection, United Express and American Eagle. WingX analysis of flight activity at the 36 EAS communities served by SkyWest from October 2024 through September 2025 shows the carrier operated 23,084 flights connecting 212 city pairs. WingX translates this to approximately 436 weekly flights or roughly 62 daily departures from these communities. The majority of these flights utilise small regional jets with 30 to 50 seat configurations. Using a conservative estimate of 30 passengers per flight, the loss of these 62 daily SkyWest EAS flights would impact approximately 1,860 passengers per day who would need alternative transportation options from their rural communities.

Richard Koe, WingX managing director, comments: “The recent weeks have shown a surge in demand for business jets, which we have not seen since the pent-up demand during the pandemic. The most obvious characteristic is fractional flying, with the top five fractional operators flying 12 per cent more so far this year compared to last year. Eroding connectivity provided by US regional carriers could spur more users to shift to private aviation in the coming months.”