Global business aircraft flight activity was up 4.2% year over year (YOY) in the first half and 3.5% in North America alone, where operations reached their strongest level in the past four years, according to Argus International’s 2026 Mid-Year Report. Flight activity in Europe was up 1.6% in the first six months of the year. Argus is forecasting a 2.2% YOY gain in North America in the second half.

In North America, which accounted for 65% of the global business aviation flight activity during the period, charter, fractional, and private operations all grew. In addition, three of four aircraft categories—turboprops and light and midsize jets—were positive; the only negative segment was large-cabin jets, which dipped by 1.8%.

Fractional was the fastest-growing segment, up 11.7%, with 38,808 additional flights versus a year ago. Charter operations climbed by 3.1%, while private operations still accounted for the greatest share of activity, at 42.9%, but only managed a 0.3% YOY gain in the first half. Light jet flying in North America increased the most in the first half with a 6.1% YOY increase. Turboprops followed at 4.3% and then midsize at 3.2%.

In Europe, traffic rebounded in the second quarter following a slow start in January. Globally, traffic rose in all six months, combining for 2.44 million business aircraft departures.

Bombardier reached the 200th delivery of a Challenger 3500, with the milestone super-midsize jet going to Ferrari vice-chairman Piero Ferrari, the airframer said today. This was achieved in less than four years since the Challenger 3500 entered service. Ferrari will use the twinjet to support travel to Formula One races and other business engagements.

“Delivering the 200th Challenger 3500 jet is a defining milestone for Bombardier and a powerful testament to the aircraft’s remarkable success in the super-midsize segment,” said David Murray, executive v-p of manufacturing, IT, and Bombardier operational excellence system. “The Challenger 3500 has quickly established itself as a category leader, and we look forward to building on that momentum.”

Bombardier noted that since its first full year of deliveries in 2023, the Challenger 3500 has been the most-delivered model among medium and heavy jets annually. The follow-on to the Challenger 300/350 family, the 3500 has gained traction among a range of buyers, including fleet operators with recent commitments for the model from Bond, NetJets, VistaJet, and The Helicopter Company.

Introduced in September 2021, the Challenger 3500 brought both cabin and flight deck upgrades to its predecessors, including Bombardier’s Nuage seats that were first installed on the Global 7500; voice-activated controls; 4K media; and an autothrottle system.

Daher Aircraft CEO Nicolas Chabbert said last week at EAA AirVenture that construction of the company’s third final-assembly line is underway, following the recent groundbreaking for the Stuart, Florida facility and the start of site preparation. 

The other two final-assembly lines are located at Daher’s Tarbes, France headquarters, where TBM turboprops are manufactured, and the Kodiak utility turboprop manufacturing facility in Sandpoint, Idaho. Plans call for the Stuart location to begin operations in the second quarter of 2027. “This satellite final-assembly line will be capable of assembling aircraft for both programs, first the TBM, but as soon as possible, the Kodiak as well,” Chabbert said.

Daher’s expansion in Florida is part of the company’s “Take Off 2027” five-year strategic plan launched in 2023.

The new final-assembly facility is co-located with a Daher aerostructures manufacturing plant in Stuart. Daher’s aerostructures operation, comprising seven sites worldwide, makes more than 300,000 parts annually for 20 civil and military aviation programs. Parts include wing panels, winglets, fuselage sections, landing gear doors, flaps, and radomes.

VAI commended U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) for introducing the McCarty and Heideman Air Safety Enhancement Act in response to a fatal helicopter accident earlier this year. The low-altitude accident involved a helicopter striking a slackline, killing all four passengers.

According to the International Slackline Association (ISA), the FAA was notified of the slackline and a notam had been issued before the collision. There were no individuals on the slackline during the collision, but aviation markers were in place.

“Improving situational awareness is one of the most effective ways to reduce risk,” said VAI president and CEO François Lassale. “Pilots need timely, accurate, and accessible information about hazards in the airspace where they operate. VAI appreciates Sen. Merkley’s work to turn industry safety concerns into constructive legislation.”

The proposed legislation aims to enhance aviation safety by compelling the FAA to update regulations concerning low-altitude airspace hazards. Included in the legislation are proposed reviews of obstruction marking policies, notam improvements, and enhanced communication between the FAA and non-aviation entities.

“Sen. Merkley’s bill takes an important step toward improving safety for pilots, crews, passengers, and the communities they serve,” Lassale said. “The Arizona accident was a tragic reminder that temporary suspended obstructions create serious risks in the National Airspace System. This legislation focuses on practical steps to improve pilot awareness, strengthen hazard communication, and help prevent future accidents.”

Three AI-powered features now available in TrustFlight's Centrik 5 safety, quality, and compliance software are designed to reduce manual work for aviation safety officers and auditors by flagging duplicate reports, suggesting report categories, and identifying repeat audit findings.

TrustFlight is rolling out the new features, collectively called Smart Suggestions, to existing Centrik customers worldwide at no additional cost. Activation is voluntary, with each organization choosing when to enable the features.

Duplicate detection compares safety reports against recent submissions, alerting officers when two reports appear to cover the same event or hazard. Users can then consolidate, connect, or dismiss the flagged match. Category suggestions analyze how an organization has previously classified reports and apply that pattern to new submissions, speeding up processing and improving classification consistency.

Centrik 5’s repeat findings detection alerts auditors when a new audit finding resembles results from past audits, surfacing recurring issues earlier in the process. No suggestion is acted on automatically, with users and auditors required to review and confirm each one before any change is recorded.

Smart Suggestions is the first wave of a broader Centrik AI roadmap, with AI-assisted risk classification among the features planned to follow.

Bell Training Academy (BTA) has now racked up more than 240,000 flight hours since it began operations in 1946, Bell Textron announced last week at the Farnborough Air Show in the UK. As it celebrates its 80th anniversary year, BTA continues to strengthen its position as a provider of pilot and maintenance technician training, supporting growing demand from operators across Europe.

Last year the facility provided instruction to more than 2,000 pilots, part of Bell’s overall 140,000 pilots trained worldwide. Its former military pilot instructors also logged 2,600 flight hours in BTA-owned aircraft last year, reinforcing the academy’s hands-on training.

Through training facilities in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, the OEM offers flexible, accessible programs through its global training network, providing experiences supported by skilled instructors and modern technology.

The manufacturer’s lead training facility in Europe—BTA Valencia in Spain—provides easy access to instruction for operators across the continent. The team in Valencia offers a variety of commercial and parapublic training. Like all BTA locations, its programs include classroom instruction, 3-D courseware, simulators, full touchdown autorotations, and hands-on training that reflects real-world missions and evolving operator needs.

More funds are needed for the Brand-New Air Traffic Control System (BNATCS) initiative, say members of the Modern Skies Coalition. In a joint letter, founding coalition member AOPA and more than 50 other aviation organizations wrote congressional leaders requesting an additional $20 billion for upgrades.

The letter noted that controllers currently rely on different automation platforms depending on the airspace, and that the FAA has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on required “refreshes” of aging systems developed decades ago. A new common automation platform is estimated to cost $10 billion.

“Modernizing our nation’s ATC system is a national imperative,” the coalition told House Speaker Mike Johnson, House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate majority leader John Thune, and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer. The requested funds would build on the $12.5 billion “down payment” Congress approved last year and would support replacement of aging platforms used by controllers.

The coalition cited progress made over the past year, including replacement of more than half of the system’s copper wiring with fiber optics, deployment of electronic flight strips and surface awareness detection technology, the conversion of analog voice switches and radios to digital systems, and contracts for replacing hundreds of aging radars. The FAA has also published a public Modern Skies dashboard tracking project status.

Philippe Lubrano, CEO of global helicopter sales and support provider Rotortrade, said the rotorcraft market has shifted from a buyer’s market to a seller’s market as the industry moves toward the second half of the year. “I don’t see any slowdown in this industry for the next three to five years,” he predicted. “Everybody wants more choppers.”

Emergency aeromedical transport remains a dominant factor in the rotorcraft ecosystem, according to Lubrano. “Definitely, the EMS sector is a growing sector,” he said. “We’re doing a number of EMS completions on preowned aircraft to satisfy our clients, and I think the EMS sector is going to see more and larger aircraft coming in.”

In an assessment of the first-half helicopter market conditions, Lubrano noted that long lead times among OEMs have added months, if not years, to delivery times on the most popular models. This, he said, is putting pressure on the young, used market inventory at a time when many in-service helicopters are nearing their replacement cycles.

He explained that since production lines for military and civil helicopters are often comingled, increasing demand from the former is also affecting OEM order books. Conflicts such as the Iran war may affect investment strategies, with some potential owners opting for short-term leases instead of ownership of newer helicopters.

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