December Sees Bump in Global Business Jet Departures

Middle East experiences surge in bizjet activity amid Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and MEBAA aviation conference.

Thursday, December 19, 2024 at 03:55 PM ET

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‘Texas, California and Florida are seeing trends of close to 10 [percent] in terms of year-on-year growth in bizjet departures in the last four weeks, testament to solid improvements in consumer and business confidence in the wake of [Donald] Trump’s [presidential] win,” said Richard Koe, managing director at WingX. [Credit: Shutterstock]

Key Takeaways:

Global bizjet departures for December 9-15 increased 2% year-over-year and 5% over the last four weeks, though year-to-date activity remains 1% below last year.
North America, particularly the U.S., showed strong growth, with states like Texas, California, and Florida seeing nearly 10% year-on-year increases over four weeks, attributed to improved post-election business confidence.
Transatlantic flying from the U.S. was up 5% compared to last year, with the U.S.-U.K. route being the busiest.
Bizjet activity outside of Europe (which fell 3%) grew 4%, largely driven by significant increases in the Middle East (up 18% due to events) and Asia (up 15%), contrasting with declines in Africa and South America.

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December 9-15 saw 72,682 bizjet departures globally, 2 percent more than Week 50 (W50) last year, according to a WingX weekly global market tracker report published Wednesday.

Furthermore, WingX reported a four-week trend of 5 percent growth compared to 2023. Both Part 135 commercial and Part 91K private aircraft activity were up 1 percent versus last year, with the last four-week trend up 7 percent.

Caleb Revill

Caleb Revill is a journalist, writer and lifelong learner working as a Junior Writer for Firecrown. When he isn't tackling breaking news, Caleb is on the lookout for fascinating feature stories.