Airbus Corporate Jets Study: 85% of Family Office Executives Expect 50-100% Rise in Private Aviation Use Over Next Two Years

A study commissioned by Airbus Corporate Jets found that nearly all family office executives surveyed expect to use private aviation more over the next two years, with 85% anticipating a 50-100% rise in usage. The research covered senior executives from family offices that collectively manage US$303 billion in assets.

Looking back, 96% of respondents have increased their use of private jets over the past two years, and private aircraft currently account for 70% of family office business aviation travel. Nearly 70% said they have opened offices in new jurisdictions over the past five years. They gave three reasons: more family members living abroad (cited by 90%), more diversified investment portfolios (72%) and geopolitical risk management (28%).

The top benefit named was greater flexibility to work during flights, particularly on confidential matters, followed by schedule control, privacy and faster travel times. Some 89% said they save between two and three hours per trip compared with commercial aviation, and 92% said they are at least 25% more productive on private aircraft. Two-thirds said 25-50% of their private aviation trips go to destinations not served directly by commercial airlines.

Access is also widening inside these organisations: 92% currently allow more staff to use private aircraft, and 97% expect that to increase over the next three years. On fleet size, 43% of respondents forecast a 50-75% increase in large jet use. Chadi Saade, president of Airbus Corporate Jets, said: "As family offices become more international, business aviation is increasingly becoming a strategic necessity." He added that private aviation is "not only enhancing operational efficiency but also enabling a more connected and productive workforce, one that increasingly spans multiple continents."

The survey ties private aviation demand to how wealth is organised rather than to leisure spending. When a family office opens offices in new jurisdictions and relatives settle abroad, travel between those points becomes a recurring operating cost, and the case for private flying rests on time saved, confidentiality and reach to places airlines do not serve directly. For this buyer segment, that logic tends to be less sensitive to the short-term swings that affect discretionary flying.

The study was commissioned by an aircraft manufacturer, and its respondents are family offices already using private aviation, so the figures describe expectations among existing users, not the wider market. The forecasts are also stated intentions, not bookings or orders. That matters most for the 43% forecasting growth in large jet use, which points toward longer-range, larger-cabin demand across charter, fractional and ownership channels.

The measure that would test these expectations is actual flight activity and aircraft acquisitions among family office clients over the two-year horizon the respondents themselves set.