Global Private Jet Departures Near 80,000 in Week 39 of 2026, Down 1% Year Over Year

Private jets recorded nearly 80,000 total departures worldwide during week 39 of 2026, the week ended September 27, a decline of approximately 1% compared with the same week in 2025, according to WingX flight-activity records. Activity also fell about 6% week over week after several weeks of flat movement. The year-to-date total remains 3.4% ahead of the same period last year, though that margin is roughly 0.3 percentage points below the comparable year-on-year trend recorded from 2024 to 2025.

WingX analyst Nick Koscinski said global activity "slipped about 1% last week, so after a couple of flat weeks we've had a small step down, though the year-to-date trend is still holding up at +3.4%." He added that "Africa was the standout again at +46%, but that's off a small base, so I would take it simply as a strong week," and noted that with Florida and Texas both up on the week, he was "not reading too much into North America's slight dip." WingX analysts attributed some of the recent softness to a tough comparison base: August 2025 saw a 5.7% year-on-year increase and September 2025 a 6.3% gain, with October and November 2025 also recording year-on-year growth.

North America recorded approximately 56,370 private jet departures, down 2% year over year, with the United States accounting for nearly 55,000 of those flights, a 7% week-over-week decline driven largely by an 11% drop in California. Florida and Texas each posted year-on-year gains for the week. Year to date, Teterboro Airport (TEB) in Bergen County, New Jersey, the busiest private jet departure airport in the US, has logged more than 58,000 departures. Scottsdale Airport (SDL) in Arizona recorded one of the largest year-on-year jumps at approximately 10%, while Dallas Love Field (DAL), Dulles International Airport (IAD), and Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport (OPF) each posted year-to-date gains of more than 5%.

Europe recorded just over 13,000 private jet departures, down roughly 1% year over year and about 3% week over week, with the UK, Switzerland, and Italy leading the weekly decline while France posted an 11% week-on-week jump. The UK, France, and Switzerland each posted year-on-year gains for the week. Paris-Le Bourget Airport (LBG) remains Europe's busiest private jet airport with nearly 19,000 departures year to date, up about 2.2% on the same period last year, followed by Nice Côte d'Azur Airport (NCE) with more than 16,000 year-to-date departures. Milano Linate (LIN) and Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD) also recorded year-on-year growth so far in 2026.

The Middle East recorded 1,428 private jet departures, up about 3% year over year, while Africa posted the largest regional gain at approximately 46% year over year and South America also recorded a double-digit year-on-year gain. In the fractional and charter segment, global Part 91K and Part 135 operations recorded more than 41,000 total departures, about 2% fewer than the same week in 2025 and 5% fewer than the prior week, with the United States leading at more than 30,000 departures, down about 1% year over year, though Florida gained 12% and Texas gained 9%. European fractional and charter operations totalled 8,725 departures, down about 6% year over year and 1% week over week, with the UK, Germany, France, and Italy each posting year-on-year declines. In the Middle East, Part 91K and Part 135 operations fell 23% year over year despite the region's broader positive trend, while Africa and South America each posted year-on-year gains of more than 40% in that segment, and Asia was down 1% year over year but up 29% week over week.

A single global growth or decline figure increasingly masks sharply different regional stories: North America's modest pullback sits alongside double-digit gains in Africa, South America, and parts of Europe, while the Middle East splits between a recovering overall departure count and a steep decline in its fractional and charter segment. That divergence is a feature of how private aviation demand works at this scale — large, mature markets like the US move slowly and are dominated by a handful of airports such as Teterboro and Le Bourget, while smaller or newer markets can swing by double digits on comparatively few added flights.

The comparison-base effect WingX flagged matters for how this data should be read in the coming months. Because August and September 2025 were unusually strong, with year-on-year gains of 5.7% and 6.3%, and October and November 2025 also grew, the year-on-year comparisons for the next two months face the same headwind that produced this week's dip. Whether the year-to-date growth rate holds near 3.4% or erodes further will depend on whether markets like Florida, Texas, and France continue offsetting softness in California, the UK, and Switzerland.

The next signal to watch is whether North America's weekly dip proves temporary, given that Florida and Texas, two of its largest markets, both posted gains even as California fell 11% and the US fractional and charter segment also slowed into October.