The year kicked off on an upswing for global business aircraft flight activity, jumping 7% from last January, while all regions saw an increase last month, according to industry data and safety analyst Argus International. In North America, activity climbed 4% year over year (YOY), while Europe saw a 1.8% gain, and the rest of the world combined for a 22.9% leap, Argus said, citing its TRAQPak analytics.

However, Argus sees mixed results heading into this month, with Europe—which saw precipitous declines in 2024—remaining positive with a 0.2% edge while North America is predicted to see a 3.9% decline.

In North America, all categories of aircraft saw YOY gains last month in flight activity, led by midsize jets, up 6.5%. This was followed by turboprop activity, up 4.3%; light jets, +3.1%; and large-cabin jets, +0.2%.

Fractional activity in North America once again paved the way for the gains, up 11.1% YOY in January. Part 135 flight activity appeared to rebound a bit with a 5.9% improvement, but Part 91 flying was down 0.2% with large-cabin jet operations in that segment dipping the most at -5.7%. Conversely, large-cabin jet fractional operations drove the biggest increase in that market segment, up 18.2%.

In Europe, all three jet categories flew more: large-cabin jets by 6.4%, midsize jets by 3.5%, and light jets by 0.2%. Turboprop activity, however, dipped by 3.4%.

In other regions of the world, turboprop activity surged by 38.6%, followed by midsize jets, +20.8%; light jets, +14%; and large-cabin jets, +6.1%.

"January started off about as well as it could for business aviation. We don't expect to see gains like this all year, but we do expect 2025 overall to finish positive by the time the year closes out,” said Travis Kuhn, senior v-p of software at Argus. “In the short term, Part 91 activity continues to be an area we are watching closely, especially in a month where everything was positive except that segment. It seems that Part 135 activity has hit its bottom but Part 91 activity still seems to have a little ways to go before the declines stop."