US Winter Storm Drags Global Bizjet Activity Down 1%

After a strong start to 2026, global bizjet activity fell 1% year-over-year in Week 04 (19 – 25 Jan), with 67,339 departures operated globally. This 1% decline was only the fourth time in the last 52 weeks that global bizjet traffic saw a weekly year-over-year decline. The decline was driven by a 3% drop in bizjet flights in North America and the Middle East -7%. Conversely, bizjet traffic in Europe increased by 3%. By operator type, Fractional Operators are continuing to drive growth, their sectors up 6% this week vs W04 2025. In contrast, Private Flight Department activity fell by 11% this week. On a rolling four-week basis (W01 – W04 2026), global bizjets are still 2% up vs same period last year, with just over 263,00 departures.

Chart 1: Global Bizjet Departures: Regional Performance

Regional Performance Analysis

North America: California Surges 15% While Texas Down 2%
In Week 04 (19 – 25 Jan) the North American market recorded over 47,000 departures, down 3% vs Week 04 2025. The winter storm this past weekend greatly affected the United States (accounting for 68% of global departures) and drove the North American trend at -3% with roughly 46,000 flights. Bizav hubs Dallas, Atlanta, and Washington DC were hit particularly hard, down 13%, 40%, and 49% respectively.

Among key states, California led growth with a standout +15% YOY (5,073 flights), while Florida posted solid +7% expansion (8,087 flights). In contrast, Texas declined 2% with 4,476 departures.

Where did the 15% California growth come from?

• Which aircraft types are driving California surge: Ultra Long-Range Jets (14% of flights) grew 27% YOY, followed by Midsize Jets (7% of flights) growing 24%, trailed by Super Midsize Jets at +17% (28% of flights).

• Which connections powered California traffic: California’s most popular corridor Los Angeles – San Francisco, which accounted for 9% of all California 2025 bizjet flying, grew 24% in Week 04 2026.

What drove Florida’s solid single-digit 7% expansion?

• Which aircraft types powered Florida’s growth: Super Midsize Jets (28% of flights) grew 21% YOY, then Very Light Jets (5% of flights) growing 10%, followed by Ultra Long-Range at +8% (10% of flights).

• What was Florida’s key city pair: Flights from Florida to New York City (Florida’s primary outbound market), representing 7% of Week 04 traffic, matched the overall state expansion at +7%.

Why did Texas slump 2%?

• Under performing business jet segments in Texas: Heavy Jets (10% of flights) declined 20% YOY, followed by Super Light Jets (9% of flights) falling 17%, then Light Jets at -4% (30% of flights). Thes declines from top aircraft segments in Texas were slightly offset by Super Midsize Jet traffic (27% of flights) growing 11%.

• Lagging city trends in Texas: Outbound flights from Dallas typically make up nearly ¼ of all Texas flying, but saw a Week 04 decline of 13% after the winter storm from this past weekend.

North America's rolling four-week performance sits now at +2% vs last year (263,000 departures). Among key states over this period, Florida leads at +7%, while California and Texas both sit at +5%.

Europe: Italy Up 14%, France Contracts 15%
From 19 – 25 January, European business jets totaled 8,922 flights, up 3% vs Week 04 2025. On a country basis, bizjet departures from Italy rose +14% YOY (866 flights), while Germany also posted strong at +8% (1,204 flights). In contrast, bizjet traffic from France declined sharply at -15% YOY with 1,236 flights.

What’s fueling Italy’s 14% growth?

• Key aircraft segments driving growth: In Week 04, 85% of Italy’s traffic came from Light, Super Light, Super Midsize, Heavy, and Ultra Long Range Jets which combined saw growth of 14%. Super Midsize Jets led growth at 41%, while accounting for 15% of flights

• Key route showing strength: Italy’s busiest corridor between Rome and Milan accounted for 6% of traffic last week, while climbing 20% compared to Week 04 2025

What caused France’s 15% contraction?

• Aircraft segments declining: 49% of France’s traffic last week was from small jets (Entry Level, Light, Super Light, Very Light), while combed these aircraft segments saw a 9% decrease in flying.

• Route pairs showing weakness: Flights staying within France accounted for 28% of flights last week while showing a 36% retraction compared to Week 04 last year.

Europe's four-week bizjet activity (W01-W04 2026) amounted to nearly 30,000 flights, up 2% vs last year. Italy leads the four-week trend at +10% vs the comparable four- week period last year, while Germany and France are both 3% below the comparable four-week period.

Rest of World: South America Leads at +19%, Middle East Contracts 7%
Regions outside North America and Europe collectively posted 6% growth, though performance varied dramatically across sub-regions. South America delivered the strongest performance with over 2,400 flights, up 19% YOY. Africa followed with the second strongest growth, 12% YOY, with roughly 860 flights, with bizjet traffic in Asia market static, at only 1% growth YOY and 2,200 departures; the Middle East market also lagged YOY trend, flights -7% and 1,200 business jet sectors.

Where are the ROW emerging markets?

• Mexico and Brazil are the top bizjet hubs outside of North America and Europe, accounting for 5% of global flights in Week 04 2026. Mexico City is the primary hub for Mexico, while São Paulo for Brazil. Both of these hubs typically account for at least 20% of outbound flying in each of their respective countries.

• Part 91 operations tend to dominate business jet traffic in these ROW emerging markets. In 2025, Part 91 made up 79% of ROW bizjet flying, compared to Part 91 traffic making up only 43% of 2025 flying in the mature markets of North America and Europe.

Nick Koscinski, WINGX analyst, comments: “Week 04 is only the fourth time in the last year that we’ve seen weekly year-over-year declines, largely driven by the winter storm that impacted the US over the weekend. Outside of the US, we continue to track the strong emerging markets, especially South America which saw 19% growth last week. The global four-week trend still sits up 2%, so it seems like the storm was just a temporary hit as US airports start to recover from the record amounts of snow this past weekend.”