Global bizjets experience 3 straight weeks of declines for first time since 2024

Global Bizjet Activity

Global bizjet activity reversed its three straight weeks of YOY declines in Week 32 (3 – 9 August), expanding 2.3% vs Week 32 2025. The year-to-date figure now sits at +3.8% ahead of last year through 9 August, a notable 0.6 percentage point increase from the 3.2% YTD trend through 2 August reported last week. South America and Africa continue to be consistent standout performers, while both expanding 11.0% last week.

Chart 1: Global Bizjet Departure Trends YTD (1 January – 9 August)

Chart 2: Global Bizjet Departure Trends YTD (1 January – 9 August) by Aircraft Certification

Event Analysis: Golf’s Playoff Opener Spikes Traffic at KOLV

*This week’s event analysis looks ahead to the 2026 FedEx St. Jude Championship through last year’s business jet traffic

The FedEx St. Jude Championship (13 – 16 August), which opens the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs at TPC Southwind in Memphis, tees off this Thursday. Last year’s edition (7 – 10 August 2025) drove a sharp business jet spike into Olive Branch Airport (KOLV), the general aviation reliever beside the course, while Memphis International (KMEM), barely registered a surge compared to its baseline.  

Some key observations to note:

• Business jet movements (arrivals + departures) peaked at 42 on the final round Sunday, roughly 6 times the normal ~7 movements KOLV handles on a normal day
• Jets on the ground topped 30 that Sunday, up from a typical base of around 19
• Fractional traffic was heavily concentrated, with NetJets alone flying half of all tournament arrivals in KOLV

Chart 3: Daily business jet movements (arrivals + departures) at Olive Branch Airport (KOLV)

Chart 4: Daily business jets occupying the ramp at Olive Branch Airport (KOLV)

Regional Performance Analysis in Week 32

North America

The North American market expanded 4.0% last week year-on-year, with the US slightly outperforming that trend at +4.3%, with strong growth across top US states. California led with growth at 7.1% vs Week 32 2025, followed by Texas at +6.6%, and Florida at +6.1%.  

Chart 5: North American business jet departures by city pairs YTD (1 January – 9 August)

Europe

European business jet activity expanded at the sluggish rate of +1.0% in Week 32 vs last year, with growth by top countries mixed bag. Italy led growth at just +3.5%, followed by a relatively flat UK and France, +0.5% and +0.3% respectively. Switzerland saw a slight decline of 1.2%, while Germany contracted notably at 7.7%.    

Chart 6: Europe business jet departures by city pairs YTD (1 January – 9 August)

Rest of World

Business jet activity in regions outside of Europe and North America contracted 2.2% on a combined basis in Week 32, while trends were split by region. Both South America and Africa experienced 11.0% growth compared to Week 32 2025, while the Middle East and Asia both declined by double-digits, -10.1% and -16.1% respectively.

Chart 7: ROW business jet departures by city pairs YTD (1 January – 9 August)

Nick Koscinski, WINGX Analyst, comments: "After three straight weeks of declines, it’s good to see the market with some growth last week, moving the year-to-date trend back near +4%. This upcoming week we’ll be keeping an eye on the FedEx St. Jude Championship to see what type of surge it brings to the Memphis metro area.”

*For this week’s event analysis, WINGX has provided a lookahead to the 2026 FedEx St. Jude Championship using our proprietary AI prompts