Business jet transactions grew 15.5% year over year in 2025, according to Global Jet Capital’s sixth annual Business Jet Market Forecast, which projects $247 billion in combined new and preowned transaction volume between 2026 and 2030. This year’s outlook is more optimistic than the company’s forecast a year ago, with 2025’s actual results outperforming what Global Jet Capital had projected at the time.

The 2026 forecast calls for a 3.6% climb in transactions this year, to 3,725 business jets—853 new and 2,872 preowned—worth $45.6 billion, up 5.5% year over year. Global Jet Capital expects the market to grow at a 2.8% average annual rate over the next five years, reaching 4,122 aircraft—928 new and 3,194 preowned—worth $52.8 billion in 2030. “Demand for business jets has strengthened alongside rising flight activity,” said chief marketing officer Andrew Farrant.

OEM order backlogs climbed to $66.8 billion by the second quarter this year. Heavy jets are expected to see the fastest growth among new deliveries, at an average annual rate of 3.3%, while preowned heavy-jet volume is forecast to grow 4.9%—second only to preowned very light jets at 5.3%—driven by buyer demand for range and cabin capacity.

North America is projected to remain the largest business jet market through 2030, accounting for 73.9% of global transactions. Latin America is forecast to be the second-largest market, at 12.1%.

Ocean Aviation, a new name in the FBO arena, has made a splash in the South Florida area with the acquisition of National Jets, one of four service providers at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (KFLL). 

In operation for nearly 80 years, National Jets has an 8,000-sq-ft terminal and 22,000 sq ft of hangar space. In 2024, the company announced a $70 million expansion project that would add 150,000 sq ft of hangars and a new terminal. The FBO’s new ownership plans to start that development immediately.

Founded last year and backed by Kennedy Lewis Investment Management, Ocean Aviation was also awarded a 40-year lease to build a new FBO at Miami Executive Airport (KTMB). This planned $67 million complex will include a terminal, fuel farm, and up to 400,000 sq ft of community and private hangars, and it will provide a new home for the Wings Over Miami Air Museum. Construction is expected to begin this month.

“This is a market we believe in deeply, and we will invest in the facility, the team, and the experience accordingly,” said Ocean Aviation chairman Romain Grosjean. “Combined with our development at Miami Executive Airport, Ocean Aviation is now developing two of the premier private aviation gateways in South Florida, with a clear mandate to set a new standard for the FBO experience in this market.”

Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) mandates across the EU and continuing challenges moving oil through the Strait of Hormuz have increased awareness of SAF and heightened the urgency to scale production and deployment, according to Cindy Tomei, president of the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Institute (SAFII).

Speaking on a panel titled “The Future of Flight Runs on SAF” at the recent second-annual Global Aerospace Summit in St. Louis, she said that as demand for SAF continues to accelerate, it is increasingly important to build the infrastructure needed to move fuel from production facilities to airports.

“Speed is really of the essence, whether it is getting SAF scaled up regardless of what the feedstock is, but also having the right infrastructure to get it transported, stored, and blended with jet fuel, so that it can actually be used,” Tomei said.

She has seen acceleration in industry development with increasing clarity around the federal 45Z tax credit and improvements in calculating carbon intensity scores, which help determine incentive eligibility.

As the conference focused on U.S. Midwest aerospace contributions, the panel also highlighted the important role regional agriculture can play in supporting renewable fuel feedstock production. Panelists noted that meeting future demand will require additional feedstocks and innovative crops that can complement existing farming operations while providing new revenue opportunities from existing acreage for producers.

Textron Aviation and Merlin today unveiled a concept for an autonomous cargo airplane based on the Cessna SkyCourier, proposing to replace the cockpit with a nose cargo door and hand flying duties to Merlin’s autonomy software. Dubbed Cessna SkyCourier UX, it exists as a design study and a model on the show floor this week at the Air & Space Forces Association’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference in National Harbor, Maryland. The companies have not named a customer or set a timeline for building one.

Boston-based Merlin would supply Merlin Pilot, the autonomous flight system it has flown on Cessna Caravans and Beechcraft King Airs. Textron Aviation would supply the airframe, a turboprop twin that the FAA certified in 2022 and has since become a FedEx feeder on short cargo routes, among other roles.

Design objectives call for roughly 6,000 pounds of cargo, three LD3 containers—the standard boxes airlines load into an airplane’s lower hold—and takeoffs and landings from unpaved strips with nobody on board. Those figures match the crewed SkyCourier freighter already in service. The partners said they are also studying kneeling gear and built-in loading systems, predicting that the airplane would fill a gap between small cargo drones and military transports too large for the job.

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After a comparatively slow start to the year, private flight provider Luxaviation has experienced a busy European summer season and continues to see firm demand across Europe and beyond. However, while many air charter clients remain cautious about visiting the Middle East, the company said others are increasingly seeking new experiences in far-flung locations.

Speaking to AIN last week at the Air Charter Expo at London Biggin Hill Airport (EGKB), Luxaviation UK CEO George Galanopoulos suggested that due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, charter demand for the region “is dead—very few people want to go there.”

“People thought business was booming because of the Middle East. It didn’t happen,” Galanopoulos explained, highlighting that Luxaviation received very few charter requests following the initial scramble to safely leave the area in March. However, the resumption of airline services to the region also negated potential ongoing demand for private charter there.

Expectations that the FIFA soccer World Cup tournament in North America would yield a spike in demand also did not materialize as Luxaviation might have hoped. Galanopoulos said significantly inflated airport surcharges and difficulty in acquiring game tickets dampened air charter demand.

Alongside the “traditional” summer destinations such as Ibiza, Mallorca, and southern France, Galanopoulos also highlighted what he termed “a trend towards unusual travel” with clients wanting to have adventures further afield.

A Gulfstream IV’s nose landing gear pip pin was found separated after a runway excursion on landing at Spirit of St. Louis Airport (KSUS) in Missouri, according to a newly released NTSB preliminary report. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the lower fuselage and left wing in the Aug. 14, 2026 accident. None of the three crewmembers or seven passengers aboard were injured.

According to the pilot, ground crew personnel at Eagle County Regional Airport (KEGE) in Colorado were unable to install the pip pin—which engages and disengages the scissor link with the nosewheel steering actuator—into the nose landing gear torque link during the preflight inspection. The pilot then installed the pip pin himself, but later told NTSB investigators he forgot to install a secondary safety pin to help ensure it remained engaged.

Before departure, the crew received a “STEER BY WIRE FAIL” crew alerting system message. They completed the appropriate checklist and the message cleared. While on approach to KSUS, the crew received the message again. Although the crew completed the checklist, the message didn’t clear this time.

As the nosewheel touched down on Runway 8R at KSUS, it began to shimmy. The nose landing gear then separated from the airplane and the left main landing gear subsequently collapsed, sending the airplane veering left into the grass.

Veryon, a provider of maintenance software and documentation, has acquired Polaris Aero, a Scottsdale, Arizona-based safety management software developer, in a deal that adds more than 200 customers for Veryon. Polaris Aero has supplied safety management systems (SMS) to aircraft operators and maintenance providers since 2007. Its product line comprises Vocus SMS, FlightRisk, and GroundRisk, which corporate flight departments, charter operators, and MROs use for compliance tracking, risk assessment, and safety oversight.

The transaction also merges the two companies’ datasets. Polaris Aero brings de-identified records covering more than 112,000 safety reports, 32 million FlightRisk assessments, and 174 million flight hazards, which will be combined with Veryon’s file of more than 100 million maintenance events. Veryon said the pooled data will improve the precision of AIRE, its AI-driven data intelligence platform, across both safety and maintenance applications.

“It’s a pivotal step towards a better alignment between aviation safety and maintenance, enabling smarter and safer decisions across every phase of customers’ operations,” said Veryon CEO Bethany Little.

Polaris Aero will operate as a separate business unit—with existing products, contracts, and support arrangements unaffected—until the companies can define a longer-term integration plan.

Pete Bunce, former GAMA president and CEO and a Veryon adviser, said safety and maintenance “have always been two sides of the same coin, but they’ve rarely been managed that way.”

Cape Air ordered eight Cessna Grand Caravan EXs to support its passenger operations in Montana, Textron Aviation announced Saturday. The regional carrier plans to transition to the new turboprop fleet in 2027.

Founded in 1989 and headquartered in Hyannis, Massachusetts, Cape Air operates in 34 cities in the U.S. and the Caribbean. The company cited the turboprop single’s reliability, performance, and cargo capacity for its decision to operate the aircraft in Montana.

“The communities we serve in eastern Montana are unique,” said Cape Air president and CEO Mike Migliore. “The Grand Caravan is a proven, dependable aircraft that will provide additional flexibility for passengers traveling with baggage, sporting equipment, work gear, and other essential items. It is a great fit for our Montana operation and reinforces our long-term commitment to the communities we serve.”

Equipped with Garmin G1000 NXi avionics and powered by an 867-hp Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A engine, the aircraft has a climb rate of 1,275 fpm. Textron Aviation has delivered more than 3,100 Caravans and secured certification in 100 countries. The fleet has accumulated more than 25 million flight hours in a range of missions, from flight training, recreation, and commuter airlines to VIP transport, cargo carriers, and humanitarian aid.

Our lunch on Wednesday, October 21, at NBAA-BACE will explore one of the most important questions facing business aviation today: do we really understand what principals expect from in-flight connectivity? Drawing on one of business aviation's most comprehensive connectivity surveys, and one of the first to compare perspectives from both industry professionals and aircraft principals, this session reveals where assumptions and reality diverge, and what that means for the future of connectivity in the air. Co-hosted by Honeywell Aerospace and Viasat.