📉 Australia's business jet departures accelerate their decline, with a sharp 22.8% drop in May
Australian business jet activity is sinking into a month-by-month deepening contraction, with the slope of the decline clearly steepening. Avi-Go data shows that from January to May 2026, the country's total business jet departures were 53,687, down 10.6% from 60,024 over the same period in 2025; among these, the decline was only 3% to 6% from January to March, widened to 12.6% in April, and sharply deepened to 22.8% in May (9,015 versus 11,679). As of June 11, June maintained a 17.4% downward trend. Divergence at the airport level was evident, with Melbourne Essendon down 15.5% and Sydney Bankstown down 13.7%, the deepest declines, while Brisbane fell only 1.6% and Adelaide dropped 3.5%, relatively stable.
Impact: If the accelerating decline continues into the third quarter of 2026, operators based in Australia will face persistently lower fleet utilization, potentially triggering a reduction in local base scale; revenue pressure on FBOs and ground service providers at the two major gateway airports of Melbourne and Sydney will be particularly pronounced.
Recommendation: Operators should complete a utilization review of their Australia-based fleets by the end of July 2026, prioritizing scheduling optimization assessments for the hardest-hit nodes such as Melbourne Essendon and Sydney Bankstown; FBOs can shift resources early in the third quarter toward relatively stable airports such as Brisbane and Adelaide to hedge against the risk of demand contraction at core gateways.