Main news

The Cessna Citation CJ4 business jet family today achieved a milestone anniversary – the 15-year anniversary of certification, entry into service and first delivery of the aircraft. The latest product investment unveiled for the CJ4, the CJ4 Gen3, is expected to enter into service in 2026.

Liberation Day and the associated enactment of global tariffs on imports into the US triggered market turmoil and expectations of a recession, but so far only a ripple in terms of declining flight activity, most notable in Florida. An uptick in transatlantic corporate flight department travel may have been linked to tariff policy changes. We shall have to wait to see impact in Europe as this week was affected by comparison with Easter holidays last year.

Textron Aviation is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Cessna Caravan single-engine utility turboprop with customers throughout the year, recognizing its growth and popularity throughout the world during the past four decades.

Liberation Day does not yet appear to have made a dent in demand for bizjet travel, although the concerns raised around the economic impact of a global trade war are likely to slow the market in subsequent quarters. For Q1 2025, modest gains in Year-on-Year bizjet activity is an improvement on last year and underlines the enduring resilience of the US market, as well as strong emerging markets in the Middle East and Asia.

Global business jet activity rebounded after last week’s relapse, with flight demand in the US belying broader economic concerns, bizjet departures up almost 20% in Texas compared to last year. This week’s bizjet activity is up by 28% in the US and 3% in Europe compared to the same week in 2020 when lockdowns started to be imposed.

Since November 2024 the week-on-week trends in bizjet activity have been consistently up, contrasting with sluggish negative trends through 2023 and 2024, but since Trump´s tariff policy started to rattle the markets, bizjet demand has noticeably fallen back. Both Europe and the Middle East saw significantly less activity in Week 10 year-on-year.

Airbus Helicopters has introduced its H140 at the vertical lift industry show VERTICON in Dallas, Texas. The multi-mission helicopter raises the bar in the light twin-engined category, for performance, cost-effectiveness, and passenger and crew comfort. The H140 is a 3-tonne class rotorcraft that complements Airbus Helicopters' current light twin offering for the emergency medical services, passenger transport, and private and business aviation markets. The entry into service of the helicopter is planned in 2028 for the emergency medical services segment.

Business jet activity has remained very firm in the last 3 months, representing a genuine rebound from flatline trends in 2023 and 2024. In the most recent week, demand was notably strong to and from Washington DC, unsurprisingly. European markets are generally behind at the start of March, with Germany the most obvious laggard.

Bombardier is proud to announce the delivery of its 1,000th super-midsize aircraft, marking a significant milestone in the history of business aviation. This landmark achievement was celebrated with the delivery of a Challenger 3500 aircraft to JM Family Entreprises, a long-standing Bombardier customer, during a special ceremony at Bombardier’s Challenger delivery centre in Montréal.

Bizav market intelligence provider, JETNET, has unveiled its comprehensive 2024 Pre-Owned Business Aircraft Market Performance Review, offering key insights into inventory growth, pricing trends, and sales activity across the sector.

For the first time, Large jets now account for 20% of industry sales according to Ever Forward: The Pre-Owned Business Aviation Report by Jetcraft.

The European Business Aviation Association (EBAA) is unveiling a reimagined conference agenda for the 2025 European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE), offering unmatched market intelligence for all attendees.

Global bizjet traffic is reaching its highest ever levels in 2025, eclipsing the previous high peaks in 2022, primarily due to the renewed demand for bizjet travel in the US since Trump’s election. Even Europe, facing serious economic headwinds, has seen an increase in bizjet traffic this year compared to last, with a surge in the last week reflecting school half-term breaks.

The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) released the 2024 General Aviation Aircraft Shipment and Billing Report during its annual State of the Industry Press Conference. Overall, when compared to 2023, nearly all aircraft segments saw increases in shipments and preliminary aircraft deliveries were valued at $31.2 billion, an increase of 13.3%.

Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. announced the final Gulfstream G650 has officially completed production. This aircraft will move to the next phase of the completions process at Gulfstream’s Appleton, Wisconsin, facility before making its official delivery to a customer later this year.

The Superbowl saw the biggest surge in bizjets since 2018, with departures on the day after the event 5x higher than the average daily departures this month so far. This reflects a general buoyancy in the US market since November. In contrast the European market is subdued, particularly in the UK, with an alarming 20% drop in bizjet flights this week. There will also be concerns over the impact of new business jet taxes in France, the busiest European market. In the Middle East, where bizjet traffic year to date is up 77% since 2019, demand in Saudi Arabia should get a boost from GACA announcing an opening-up to foreign operators from March this year.

Boom Supersonic, the company building the world’s fastest airliner, Overture, announced Boomless Cruise for its supersonic airliner, enabling supersonic travel over land without an audible sonic boom.

Economic concerns are up this week in the wake of Trump’s trade war declaration. This will certainly worry bizjet OEMs outside the US, although, as a proportion of total activity, international flights to and from the US are a very small part. And flight demand is still seeing the positive effects of the Trump bump, with fractional demand particularly strong, endorsing Flexjet’s bumper billion-dollar new aircraft order this week.

Embraer Executive Jets, a division of Embraer, announced today a purchase agreement with Flexjet. The agreement comprises a fleet of Embraer business jets, which includes the Praetor 600, Praetor 500 and Phenom 300E models, as well as an enhanced suite of services and support.

The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) of Saudi Arabia is opening the domestic private aviation market to international operators, by announcing the removal of cabotage restrictions for foreign on-demand charter flights within the Kingdom. The decision is part of GACA’s broader strategy to boost the private jet market, supported by the establishment of a sector development committee to engage international and domestic business jet operators.