The private jet market is currently subject to unprecedented demand, making the concept of traveling by private jet almost common.
For a variety of reasons, both charter and ownership demand is soaring. However, due to the excess demand cracks are starting to emerge. The primary source of those cracks is a lack of aircraft.
Therefore, how common are private jets? How many are there around the world? Which models are the most popular? How often do private jets fly? And how does all of this compare with commercial aviation?
- Daily Private Jet Flights
- Private Jet Flights by Region
- Daily Commercial Flights
- Commercial Flights by Region
- Total Private Jet Aircraft
- Total Commercial Aircraft
- Private Jet Airports
- Data Sources
- Summary
Daily Private Jet Flights
How many private jets fly per day? Additionally, how has this changed over the past two years?
Firstly, the number of flights per day. Naturally, there are fluctuations in figures depending on the day of the week and the month of the year.
For example, Saturdays usually have the fewest number of flights. Conversely, Thursdays usually see the greatest number of flights during the week.
At the time of writing (October 2021), the average number of global daily business jet flights is around 11,500 flights per day, plus or minus 1,500 flights per day.
However, as mentioned, 2021 is seeing a significant increase in demand over 2019. Of course, 2019 is the last “normal” year on the books. Due to Covid, 2020 is regarded as an abnormal year for the aviation industry.
Throughout 2021 the number of flights has consistently been above that of the 2019 levels. At one point in mid-June, weekly flight numbers were 32% above 2019 levels. Daily flights for the week in 2018 were around 8,500. In 2021, for the same week, daily figures were just over 11,200.
At the low point of growth in 2021, daily figures were just 4% above the levels in 2019.
However, in the first quarter of 2020, demand levels were exceeding both 2019 and 2021 levels. From January to mid-March, 2020 daily flights were consistently around 10% greater than the levels recorded in 2019.
Private Jet Flights by Region
When it comes to where in the world private jets are most common, the United States easily comes top. Every day, around 60% of all private jet flights are domestic within the United States of America.
The second most popular region for private jet flights is tied between international US flights and domestic European flights.
In terms of figures, around 10% of all private jet flights are international US. That is to say, the mission either starts or finishes in the United States. This matches up with another 10% of all private jet flights taking place within Continental Europe.
Therefore, on any given day, approximately 70% of all private jet flights will at some point operate within the United States of America. Then, on top of these figures, there are the 10% of private jet flights within Continental Europe (excluding the UK).
Out of the remaining 20% of private jet flights, some of these take place between EU countries and the UK. Some are domestic within each European country.
However, at most, these individual regions will be looking at around 5% of all private jets flights.
Most regions will see far fewer private jet flights than this. For example, the UK sees only 3.5% / 4% of all private jet flights. This figure is both domestic and international.
Daily Commercial Flights
As you would expect, there are far more commercial flights than private jet flights.
However, unlike the private jet market, commercial flights are significantly down compared with 2019 levels.
As a percentage, there are on average 22% fewer commercial aviation flights in 2021 compared with 2019.
However, even at the current 2021 levels, there are around 8 times as many daily flights compared with private jets.
On average, there are around 80,000 commercial aviation flights every single day (October 2021). Moreover, in 2019 there were, on average, just under 110,000 global commercial flights per day.
Of course, at the start of the year, there were far fewer commercial flights. February was the low point of the year, seeing around 50,000 flights per day. This number is half of the daily figures during 2019.
Commercial Flights by Region
While it is hardly a surprise that there are more commercial flights than private jet flights, the regional breakdown is surprising.
While around 60% of all private jet flights are domestic within the United States, only 30% of all commercial flights are.
Moreover, there is no longer a tie between US international flights and ‘domestic’ European flights. Flights within Continental Europe far exceed those of international US flights.
Approximately 20% of all commercial flights take place within Continental Europe. Furthermore, only around 5% of all commercial flights are international US flights.
This means that while 80% of all private jet flights involved the US and Europe, only 55% of commercial flights do.
Therefore, what regions contribute to the other 45% of commercial flights?
The answer – China.
Domestic flights within China make up around 12% – 15% of all global commercial flights.
In comparison, domestic private jet flights in China represent less than 0.01% of all global flights.
Total Private Jet Aircraft
In total, there are around 22,000 private jet aircraft in operation around the world. However, as you would expect, the majority of these aircraft are based in the United States.
One of the most popular models is, in fact, not even a jet aircraft. The Pilatus PC-12 is one of the most popular aircraft currently in operation.
There are just over 920 Pilatus PC-12 NG aircraft currently in service.
Please refer to the table below to see the current figures for in-service private jets.
Generally speaking, the most common aircraft are on the smaller end of the scale – such as the Phenom 300 (light jet) and Cessna Citation Mustang (VLJ).
Additionally, the aircraft that are more common are generally older. Of course, this is hardly surprising given that they have had longer production runs so there is more time to build aircraft.
Given the complexities of any aircraft, it takes a significant amount of time to construct a private jet. However, the number of aircraft produced per year is still extremely impressive.
For example, the production life of the Gulfstream G550 was 18 years. Therefore, Gulfstream was building, on average, 35 G550 jets per year.
Of course, please note that not all these aircraft are used for charter or VIP travel. For example, many private jets are used as air ambulances (see Royal Flying Doctor Service) or as military aircraft.
| Aircraft | Number in Service |
|---|---|
| Pilatus PC-12 NG | 926 |
| Gulfstream G550 | 620 |
| Bombardier Learjet 35A | 387 |
| Cessna Citation II | 469 |
| Embraer Phenom 300 | 483 |
| Cessna Citation Mustang | 474 |
| Bombardier Challenger 300 | 453 |
| Hawker 800XP | 392 |
| Cessna Citation CJ3 | 412 |
| Bombardier Challenger 350 | 389 |
| Cessna Citation Excel | 358 |
| Bombardier Challenger 604 | 351 |
| Gulfstream G450 | 354 |
| Cessna Citation Sovereign | 348 |
| Cessna Citation CJ4 | 342 |
| Cessna Citation X+ | 339 |
| Cessna Citation Bravo | 316 |
| Bombardier Global 6000 | 334 |
| Cessna Citation XLS | 328 |
| Bombardier Learjet 60 | 286 |
| Cessna Citation X | 306 |
| Embraer Phenom 100 | 296 |
| Gulfstream GIVSP | 296 |
| Cessna Citation XLS+ | 296 |
| Dassault Falcon 7X | 293 |
| Bombardier Challenger 605 | 288 |
| Cessna Citation M2 | 281 |
| Cessna Citation V Ultra | 271 |
| Eclipse 500 | 252 |
| Gulfstream G650ER | 270 |
| Cessna Citation V | 252 |
| Cessna Citation I | 260 |
| Gulfstream G200 | 238 |
| Gulfstream GII | 250 |
| Bombardier Learjet 45 | 236 |
| Cessna Citation CJ2 | 235 |
| Bombardier Global 5000 | 237 |
| Dassault Falcon 50 | 186 |
| Hawker 800A | 168 |
| Dassault Falcon 2000 | 222 |
| Cessna Citation CJ2+ | 223 |
| Dassault Falcon 10 | 226 |
| Hawker 400XP | 220 |
| Gulfstream G280 | 222 |
| Cessna Citation Latitude | 209 |
| Bombardier Learjet 31A | 191 |
| Bombardier Learjet 45XR | 204 |
| Cessna Citation III | 169 |
| Gulfstream GIII | 112 |
| Gulfstream G650 | 198 |
| Cessna Citation CJ1 | 195 |
| Gulfstream GIV | 161 |
| Gulfstream GV | 190 |
| Cessna Citation CJ3+ | 186 |
| Embraer Legacy 600 | 177 |
| Cessna Citation Encore | 159 |
| HondaJet HA-420 | 166 |
| Bombardier Global Express XRS | 160 |
| Beechcraft Premier IA | 154 |
| Cessna Citation SII | 137 |
| Dassault Falcon 900B | 156 |
| Bombardier Global Express | 142 |
| Pilatus PC-24 | 145 |
| Bombardier Learjet 75 | 143 |
| Bombardier Learjet 75 Liberty | 136 |
| Bombardier Challenger 601-3A | 118 |
| Beechcraft Premier I | 119 |
| Dassault Falcon 2000LX | 133 |
| Gulfstream G150 | 125 |
| Embraer Phenom 300E | 125 |
| Bombardier Challenger 650 | 124 |
| Bombardier Learjet 55 | 95 |
| Dassault Falcon 900EX EASy | 119 |
| Cessna Citation VII | 113 |
| Dassault Falcon 900EX | 118 |
| IAI Westwind 1 | 68 |
| Bombardier Learjet 60XR | 111 |
| Dassault Falcon 2000LXS | 109 |
| Dassault Falcon 2000EX EASy | 102 |
| Cessna Citation CJ1+ | 101 |
| Dassault Falcon 50EX | 100 |
| Cessna Citation Sovereign+ | 100 |
| Hawker 850XP | 99 |
| Embraer Legacy 650 | 97 |
| Bombardier Learjet 40XR | 92 |
| Cirrus Vision Jet SF50 | 90 |
| IAI Westwind 2 | 64 |
| Bombardier Challenger 600 | 65 |
| Dassault Falcon 900LX | 82 |
| Embraer Legacy 500 | 82 |
| Hawker 4000 | 68 |
| Dassault Falcon 8X | 78 |
| Bombardier Challenger 850 | 71 |
| Cessna Citation Encore+ | 66 |
| Bombardier Challenger 601-3R | 56 |
| Embraer Legacy 450 | 58 |
| Hawker 750 | 48 |
| Bombardier Learjet 36A | 37 |
| Embraer Phenom 100EV | 45 |
| Dassault Falcon 2000S | 43 |
| Embraer Praetor 600 | 41 |
| Bombardier Learjet 40 | 39 |
| Bombardier Learjet 31 | 29 |
| Cessna Citation VI | 36 |
| Nextant 400XTi | 35 |
| Eclipse 550 | 33 |
| Gulfstream G600 | 33 |
| Cessna Citation Longitude | 27 |
| Dassault Falcon 2000EX | 26 |
| Embraer Phenom 100E | 26 |
| Dassault Falcon 900C | 25 |
| Bombardier Global 7500 | 24 |
| Dassault Falcon 900DX | 24 |
| Gulfstream G400 | 23 |
| Gulfstream G100 | 21 |
| Embraer Lineage 1000 | 18 |
| Embraer Praetor 500 | 18 |
| Bombardier Learjet 55C | 13 |
| Gulfstream G300 | 13 |
| Gulfstream G350 | 11 |
| Gulfstream G500 | 9 |
| Embraer Lineage 1000E | 8 |
Total Commercial Aircraft
Surprisingly, despite the fact that there are around 8 to 10 times as many commercial flights then private jet flights, the global fleet size isn’t much bigger.
Globally, there are around 26,000 commercial aircraft. This isn’t much more than the estimated 22,000 private jets around the world.
However, a key difference is the number of individual models of aircraft. Among commercial aircraft, a few manufacturers and a few models dominate.
For example, worldwide, there are around 6,500 Boeing 737 aircraft in service (over 9,000 have been delivered in total). This means that the Boeing 737 makes up around 25% of all in-service commercial aircraft.
Additionally, there are more than 5,000 Airbus A320 family aircraft currently in-service.
Not only does this highlight the dominance of just a select few aircraft models, but it also follows that smaller, domestic aircraft are the most popular. For example, one of the most popular long-haul aircraft is the Boeing 777. However, just over 800 have been delivered. This figure is considerably smaller than the 737 and A320 models.
Additionally, as expected when discussing the regional distribution of commercial flights, the majority of commercial aircraft are based in the US and Asia.
Please refer to the table below to see the 2019 commercial fleet distribution by continent.
| Continent | Number of Commercial Aircraft |
|---|---|
| Africa | 740 |
| Russia & Central Asia | 1,260 |
| Middle East | 1,510 |
| Latin America | 1,540 |
| Europe | 5,220 |
| North America | 7,610 |
| Asia Pacific | 8,020 |
Private Jet Airports
While there are fewer private jets compared with commercial aircraft, the figures suggest that you would be seeing them more regularly. Therefore, where are all these private jets? And where are they flying between?
Typically, private jets don’t use the usual commercial airports. Of course, there are some cases where the airport that an airline uses will be the most convenient one.
However, in many cases, private jets fly from smaller airports. Not only is there less traffic, but smaller airports are also usually closer to the final destination. Therefore, overall travel time is reduced. And, after all, this is the critical benefit of flying by private jet.
For example, London has a variety of airports to use, both for commercial flights and private jets. However, there are only a few points of overlap. For example, private jets will almost never fly in or out of Heathrow or Gatwick. Yet they will fly from Stansted, Luton, and London City.
Conversely, private jets operate from Farnborough, Biggin Hill, and RAF Northolt. However, commercial aircraft will not operate from these airports.
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Additionally, private jet passengers will transition through the FBO. The FBO is essentially the terminal for private jet passengers. And, thanks to the convenience and efficiency of flying by private jet, passengers only need to arrive 15 minutes prior to departure. That makes the entire process of flying private extremely quick.
Therefore, the reason that you are unlikely to run into a private jet when flying commercially is due to the aircraft being at a completely different airport (see Los Angeles to Las Vegas by private jet).
Data Sources
Our daily flight figures, along with regional flight figures, are supplied from our Daily Tracker dashboard. Learn more here. This data is compiled from over 14 different global sources.
Private jet in-service figures have been compiled from the number of aircraft that are registered around the world.
Commercial aircraft fleet figures are courtesy of Statista.
Airport information is supplied from our Private Jet Airport Map. Learn more here.
Summary
So, how common are private jets?
Obviously, compared with commercial aircraft, they are not very common. At the moment commercial figures are lower than “normal” and private jet figures are well above “normal”.
Therefore, the gap between the two has shrunk. However, it is safe to assume that around 10% of all flights will be private jet flights. However, in many cases, these will likely be empty legs.
Moreover, despite the fact that there are around 8 times as many commercial flights as private jet flights, the fleet size is only marginally larger.
