After a drop-off in January 2026 YOY trends, global business jets are picking up the pace in Week 2 (5-11 January), according to WingX's Weekly Global Market Tracker, with flights up nine per cent compared to Week 2 2025, representing a gain of approximately 5,600 business jet departures. On a rolling last four-week basis (Week 51 2025 to Week 2 2026), global business jet departures are up four per cent compared to the same period last year, in line with the trends for the full year 2025 when compared to 2024. Through the first 11 days of January, business jet activity has set a new record for the strongest start to any year WingX has tracked.

Google announced this week a major corporate restructuring that will relocate significant business entities and assets out of California, marking the latest high-profile departure from the state. The tech giant joins a growing list of companies reevaluating their California presence amid concerns over the regulatory environment, tax policies and operating costs. This corporate migration appears reflected in business aviation data, with California business jet activity decreasing two per cent compared to the first 11 days of 2025. The first 11 days of the year are also five per cent below the start of 2022, which was previously a record setting year with the post-COVID travel boom. The state's traditionally dominant position in business aviation, accounting for approximately nine per cent of US traffic in 2025 and 11 per cent in 2019, may be shifting as companies increasingly establish operations in lower-cost states like Florida and Texas, which have posted six and seven per cent growth respectively for the start of the year.

Business jet activity in the North American market as a whole expanded 11 per cent in Week 2 2026 year-over-year. On a US state level, Florida was the busiest, with flights up by 11 per cent. The next busiest, Texas, saw business jet flights climb by nine per cent but California saw just a one per cent increase in flights in Week 2, while having a four-week trend of minus one per cent and a 2025 full year trend of plus four per cent. Other fast growing US states in terms of recent YOY business jet activity include New Jersey, Arizona and Illinois.

European business jet flights were flat in Week 2 compared to the same week last year, although there was substantial differentiation across the region. Business jet departures from Italy saw a seven per cent uptick against Week 2 last year; business jet arrivals into Switzerland were up six per cent; conversely, business jet traffic in France declined five per cent, dropped six per cent in the UK and experienced an 11 per cent YOY slump in Germany. Europe's four-week trend (Week 51 2025 to Week 2 2026) is up twi per cent compared to last year, with Italy leading the four-week trend; it saw a six per cent increase, whereas both the UK and Germany are now below the comparable four-week period, at minus three and minus one per cent respectively.

After a slow start to 2026, where ROW business jet traffic declined eight per cent YOY in Week 1, activity outside of North America and Europe expanded six per cent compared to Week 2 2025. Growth was driven by activity in South America, where business jets flew 18 per cent more than the comparable period last year, followed by single-digit growth in Asia and Africa, at four and two per cent respectively. The Middle East was the only ROW region to see a year-over-year decline, falling six per cent. While the Middle East is now seven per cent below the comparable four-week period last year, business jet demand in South America, Africa and Asia is sustaining strong trends in the beginning of 2026, with four-week growth trends at 13, nine and two per cent respectively.

WingX analysis also shows a wide disparity in the allocation of OEM business jets by operator type: private flight departments demonstrate the strongest presence in Cessna fleets at 31 per cent, reflecting the manufacturer's appeal to individual owners; private flight departments also have a significant representation in Embraer (25 per cent) and Dassault (24 per cent) aircraft; aircraft management companies show preferences towards Bombardier (39 per cent) and Gulfstream (37 per cent); corporate flight departments favour premium manufacturers, representing 31 per cent of Dassault fleets and 30 per cent of Cessna operations; fractional ownership operators concentrate their fleets primarily in Embraer (20 per cent) and Bombardier (12 per cent) aircraft, leveraging these manufacturers' strong positions in the super-midsize and midsize segments; while branded charter operators show balanced presence across all OEMs, ranging from 10 to 14 per cent of fleet composition, demonstrating the diverse aircraft requirements needed to serve varied charter missions and client preferences.