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ARGUS Analytics has released its February aircraft activity report and WINGX has released a report on how the armed conflict between Iran, Israel and the U.S. has affected business aviation throughout the Middle East.
WingX reports that the outbreak of the armed conflict on Feb. 28 caused an immediate and measurable drop in business jet activity throughout the Middle East. The company reports that Week 9 (Feb. 23 - March 1) had a 10% drop in departures compared to Week 8 (Feb. 16-22). A total of 371 business jet flights departed Middle East airports in the 27 February - 1 March window, primarily to neighboring and near-regional markets. The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia saw decreases of 64.7% and 60%, respectively, in business jet activity during the same period.
Turkey was the top destination country and received almost a quarter of all flights. France, Greece, Italy and the UK collectively drew 18.7% of the traffic escaping the Middle East. WingX reports that as of March 4, 140 business jets were grounded across Middle East airports with an average parking duration of 4.9 days.
Globally, flight activity increased 1.4% from Jan. 2026 and by 6.3% year over year. ARGUS reports an increase of 5.3% year over year, with 500 more flights per day. In North America, the results by operational category were all positive for February with Fractional activity posting the largest increase of 9.5%. Part 91 and Part 135 activity increased by 5.9% and 2.4%, respectively. Small cabin jets had the largest gain in aircraft categories with 7.6% year over year. Mid-size jets had an increase of 5.1% and turboprop aircraft increase by 4.9%. Large cabin jets had the smallest increase of 2.9%."February couldn't have looked much better in terms of activity," said Travis Kuhn, ARGUS Senior VP of Software. "When we see activity in a 28-day month exceed activity in a 31-day month that is a sign that our industry is operating in very strong territory. The lone sluggish spot, Part 135 Large cabin, is still an area to monitor but we do expect the overall industry to have a very strong March."
European activity increased by 2.2% year over year but dropped 0.3% compared to Jan. 2026. Large cabin jet activity had the largest increase of 8% year over year. Both small cabin and mid-size cabin jets had an increase of 1.6%. Turboprop activity dropped year over year by 3.3%.
According to Argus, the rest of the world had an increase of 11% year over year and increased by 0.7% compared to Jan. 2026. Small cabin jets increased in activity by 22.3% year over year and mid-sized cabin jets increased 11.1%. Turboprops increased by 10.6% and large cabin jets increased by 4.9%.
The Middle East typically represents about 2% of global jet departures. WingX states that global business jet traffic in Week 9 was up 2.4% compared to last year and the year-to-date figure is at 3.5%.
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