✈️ India Business Aviation Movements Surge 15.7%, Light Jets Reshape Fleet Landscape
Avi-Go data shows that from January 1 to May 21, 2026, total business aviation movements in India reached 27,332, up 15.7% year-over-year from 23,619 during the same period in 2025, representing a notably strong growth rate. Changes in aircraft type composition are equally striking: Challenger 605 movements rose from 1,003 to 1,561 (+55.6%), Legacy 650 climbed from 733 to 1,175 (+60.3%), and perhaps more significantly, three light jets — the Premier I (1,011 movements), Pilatus PC-24 (801 movements), and Citation CJ2+ (766 movements) — entered the Top 10 aircraft types for the first time. Meanwhile, the Learjet 45, Learjet 40, and Global 5000 all dropped out of the top ten, a development closely aligned with the global trend following Bombardier's discontinuation of the Learjet line. The market is displaying a "dual-end expansion" dynamic: at the high end, Airbus designated India as a core South Asian target market for the ACJ TwoTwenty in May 2026 — a type that only entered service in 2023 and currently has just 9 customers worldwide; at the light, short-haul end, the new entries of the PC-24 and CJ2+ reflect the rapid release of domestic demand for short-to-medium range business travel within India.
Impact: For OEMs, the structural expansion of the light jet segment signals that the sales window for manufacturers such as Textron Aviation and Pilatus is opening in India, while the accelerating decline of Bombardier's Learjet line further compresses liquidity for pre-owned aircraft brokers in that segment. For FBOs and ground service providers, the increase in light jet frequency will drive greater handling demand at secondary and tertiary airports, potentially requiring a reassessment of existing resource allocation.
Recommendation: In response to growing light jet demand in the Indian market, authorized dealers for Pilatus and Textron should complete a localized after-sales service network coverage assessment before Q3 2026, prioritizing emerging business aviation hub cities beyond Delhi and Mumbai. FBO operators may leverage current movement data to initiate a dedicated capacity expansion plan for light jet parking positions and fuel handling capabilities before June 2026.