Global business aviation activity expanded by 4.2% year-over-year during the first half of 2026, recording a total of 2.44 million departures worldwide from January through June, according to new data published by ARGUS International. Flight departures registered monthly increases in each of the first six months of the year.
North America maintained its position as the global hub for business aviation, accounting for 65% of all worldwide departures. Operators completed 1.77 million flights in the region during the six-month period, marking a 3.5% increase compared with the first half of 2025 and representing the highest first-half volume recorded in the past four years. This performance also exceeded the activity level of the first half of 2019 by 15.4%.
Fractional operations drove the strongest growth in North America, rising 11.7% and adding 38,808 flights year-over-year. Charter operations increased by 3.1%, while private flying edged up 0.3%. Private operations remained the largest single operational segment, representing 42.9% of total North American flight activity. Across aircraft categories, light jets led gains with a 6.1% increase, followed by turboprops up 4.3% and midsize jets up 3.2%. Large-cabin jets were the sole category to decline, falling 1.8%.
Europe, the second-largest market globally, registered a 1.6% rise in flight activity during the first half, accounting for slightly more than 14% of global departures. ARGUS forecasts North American business aviation activity to grow by an additional 2.2% in the second half of 2026, though it noted rising jet fuel prices, geopolitical uncertainty, and weakness in large-cabin jet activity as potential risk factors.
