Pre-Owned Business Jet Market Splits: Heavy Jet Transactions Surge 43.8% in Q2 2026 as Lighter Segments Soften

AMSTAT reports that heavy jet transactions rose 43.8% year-on-year in Q2 2026 and finished 44.2% above the segment's ten-year average. Combined pre-owned jet and turboprop transactions climbed 11.2% against Q2 2025, and pre-owned business jets alone gained 15.5%. Q2 activity ran 14.0% above the ten-year Q2 average, the third highest second quarter in a decade.

Supply is tight. At the end of Q2 2026, heavy jet inventory had fallen to 5.2% of the active fleet, the segment's tightest since February 2023, and median heavy jet values rose 13% year-on-year. Total pre-owned jet inventory stood at 6.5% of the active fleet, the tightest since August 2023. End-of-June inventory across the broader pre-owned market was 5.8% of the active fleet, down 8.6% year-on-year and the lowest since February 2024, with median values up 5% year-on-year and 2% year-to-date.

The lighter end looks different. AMSTAT notes that average asking prices derived from listings fell even as median values rose, suggesting some sellers, particularly of lighter cabin-class aircraft, are cutting prices to attract buyers. Turboprop median values, previously down 8% year-on-year, were flat in Q2 2026, which AMSTAT characterises as possible stabilisation rather than genuine recovery.

Other trackers show a similar direction on different scopes. IADA recorded 746 closed pre-owned transactions in H1 2026, up 21%, while AMSTAT put pre-owned business jet transactions up 7% year-to-date; the two measures use different scopes and methodologies. Global Jet Capital reports Q1 2026 pre-owned transaction unit volume fell 27.2% and dollar volume fell 19.7% year-on-year, partly attributed to data reporting delays.

According to JETNET (JIQ Market Barometer, July 2026 / Edition 5), fractional operators and private flight departments each grew by more than 10% year-on-year and together accounted for 38% of H1 activity. Charter operators contracted 3.1% and corporate flight departments shrank 8.9%.

NetJets' fleet passed 845 aircraft in March 2026, up from 781 a year earlier, with about 80 new jet deliveries expected in 2026. JETNET data show NetJets logged 525,800 trailing-twelve-month departures, a 13% share of global activity, with growth of 10.5%. In late July 2026 NetJets withdrew its 25-hour jet cards and 25-hour leases from sale and restricted its 50-hour lease product. Global Jet Capital reports OEM combined order backlogs reached 57.1 billion dollars in Q1 2026, excluding Dassault, up 19.3% year-on-year.

North America held a 71.8% share of H1 2026 business jet activity, up 5.0% year-on-year. Worldwide business jet departures grew 4.0% in H1 2026, and Holstein Aviation records 3.97 million total worldwide departures for the twelve months to June 2026, up 4.9%. The Middle East fell 17.8% in H1 2026, attributed to the US-Israel-Iran conflict that began in February 2026. Africa led all regions with 10.5% trailing-twelve-month growth but only a 1.1% share of activity.

The pattern here is a market moving in two directions at once. Heavy jets, with inventory near multi-year lows and values rising, behave like a seller's market, while the lighter cabin classes show listing prices sliding even as medians edge up. When supply is this thin at the top, buyers who cannot find a suitable heavy aircraft tend to wait or look at new-build slots, which is where a 57.1 billion dollar OEM backlog becomes relevant.

Demand is also being carried by a particular kind of buyer. Fractional operators and private flight departments are growing at double-digit rates while charter and corporate flight departments contract, so headline transaction growth reflects who is buying as much as how many aircraft change hands. NetJets pulling its smallest-hour products while its fleet grows suggests programme operators are managing demand on their own terms.

The Q2 figures also need reading against a weak Q1. With Q1 unit and dollar volumes down year-on-year and reporting delays cited, part of the Q2 jump is catch-up, so the half-year trend is a steadier guide than any single quarter. The next AMSTAT inventory reading will show whether heavy jet supply tightens further or whether lighter-class price cuts begin to pull median values down.