Business jet activity is trending up by 7% since the US election, and follows a strong October, compared to 2023. This may suggest a post-election bounce, especially as Trump is expected to lower taxes and may generally be favourable towards the sector.
Global
In Week 47 (18th – 24th November), there were 74,156 business jet departures globally, up 13% compared to same week last year, primarily due to the later Thanksgiving week this year. The 4-week trend is now 3% ahead of last year. Year to date, through November 24th, global bizjet activity is tracking -1% compared to last year. As shown, January and September were relatively weak months, with October and November hitting new highs.
Chart 1: Global business jet departures by week in 2024
North America
Airports near Las Vegas (KLAS, KHND and KVGT) saw a large rise in business jet arrivals last week due to the hosting of the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix. During the Grand Prix dates (22nd – 24th November), 533 bizjet arrivals were recorded, much lower than the 928 recorded during the 2023 race (17th – 19th November 2023). Chart 2 shows the increase in active tails through November 2024, highlighting the arrivals for the qualifying sessions and the main event. However, the event drew far fewer business jet arrivals than in 2023; on the peak day last year there were 350 active business jet tails whereas this year the maximum was 202. Almost all the arrivals were from US points of departure, with Super Midsize, Heavy and Ultra Long-Range jets accounting for over 75% of arrivals during the Grand Prix weekend.
Chart 2: Active bizjet tails, arrivals into KLAS, KHND and KVGT airports, November 2024.
In Week 47, business jet activity in the United States jumped 19% compared to W47 in 2023, large growth recorded in Texas (+33%) and California (+16%). The earlier US Thanksgiving holiday in 2023 was the main factor for these large swings, with the Thanksgiving lull likely to be evident next week. As November draws to a close, bizjet activity in the US remains buoyant, departures 3% ahead of last year. Post US election (6th – 24th November), bizjet activity is 7% ahead of comparable last year. California´s bizjet traffic was an outlier this month, departures falling 2% compared to last year. Notably Corporate fleets in California are flying 16% less than last year, large declines on Los Angeles – Las Vegas and San Diego – Los Angeles.
Chart 3: US Business jet departures, airports, November 2024
Europe
In Europe, bizjet activity rose 5% compared to the same week last year, maintaining a 3% 4-week gain. Bizjet departures in Germany rose 5% compared to W47 in 2023, ending a 3-week decline streak. Activity in Switzerland fell for a second week in a row, down 8% vs W47 in 2023. Strong growth trends in the United Kingdom, Italy and Spain were offset this week by declines in Germany, Switzerland and Sweden. The UK government are currently looking into changes in Air Passenger Duty tax which extends coverage of the tax down to smaller aircraft, in contrast to the prevailing APD coverage of 20 ton aircraft. Although bizjet activity in the UK is well up this year, the active number of aircraft flying on the UK ‘G-reg’ register has fallen 28% compared to last year, 33% compared to 2019.
Chart 4: United Kingdom, bizjet activity by weight category, January 2019 through October 2024
Rest of World
Bizjet activity in the Middle East rose 8% compared to Week 47 last year, the four-week trend rising to 3% above last year. Activity in Africa fell for a third week in a row, the W47 trend 32% below W47 last year, dragging the last four-week trend to -18%. Mexico is the busiest bizjet market outside of the United States and Europe this month, departures falling 2% compared to last year, small declines also recorded in Australia. There was strong growth this month in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
Chart 5: Bizjet departures by country, outside of US and Europe, November 2024.
