✈️ Johannesburg FAOR Business Jet Movements Surge 22.6% to New High, Cape Town Pulls Back After Peak Season
Business jet activity at Johannesburg FAOR has jumped to a new regional peak, contrasting with the seasonal pullback at Cape Town FACT. Avi-Go data shows that from January to May 2026, FAOR accumulated 2,966 movements, an increase of 546 movements (+22.6%) over the 2,420 movements in the same period of 2025, with May alone reaching a record 670 movements. Over the same period, Cape Town FACT accumulated 2,287 movements (+10.6% year-on-year), but declined month by month within the year, falling from a February peak of 546 movements to 312 movements in May (-41.8%), reflecting a typical post-peak-season seasonality. Destinations are highly concentrated in Southern Africa, with domestic segments accounting for 77.7%, while intercontinental waypoints saw only the UK enter the top ten with 22 movements, and demand toward the Middle East remained weak.
Impact: FAOR growth is driven by regional demand rather than new capacity deployment, dominated by domestic and neighboring-country segments, providing limited pull for long-range aircraft types and intercontinental FBO support needs. FACT's strong seasonality means operators must cope with uneven load throughout the year.
Recommendation: FBOs and operators should assess FAOR's peak and off-peak configurations in the third quarter of 2026, with a focus on strengthening support for domestic and short-haul segments to Zimbabwe and Botswana. For FACT, ground and maintenance resources can be locked in before the July-August 2026 peak season to balance off-season capacity scheduling.