WINGX Global Market Tracker:

Masters delivers as Middle East slump deepens into 7th week

Seven weeks on from the outbreak of the Iran-Israel-US conflict, Middle East business aviation remains deeply suppressed, with regional fuel uplift holding at levels more than 40% below pre-conflict norms and no recovery trajectory yet visible.

Globally, the picture is more encouraging, with Week 15 delivering a strong +5.6% year-on-year rebound as the market shook off the Easter lull, with North and South America both posting robust growth. At Augusta National, the Masters Tournament drew 1,417 bizjet arrivals to KAGS, a powerful 15x surge above normal weekly levels and a timely reminder that marquee events remain a reliable demand driver.

Global bizjet activity: Strong rebound after Easter lull

After a slowdown in flying last week due to Easter, global bizjet activity rebounded strongly in Week 15 (6-12 April), with approximately 82,000 sectors flown, a 5.6% year-on-year increase vs Week 15 last year. The week's total comfortably exceeded the 73,100 average weekly departures recorded across the first 14 weeks of 2026, while global bizjet activity now stands at +4.6% ahead of last year, a slight acceleration from the +4.2% reported through 5 April, and a notable improvement on the +2.6% achieved over the same period in 2025 vs 2024.

North America anchored weekly growth at +9.2%, while South America continued its standout run at +14.3% and Asia delivered a solid +4.1%.

The Middle East continues to cast a shadow over the global picture. Accounting for approximately 1% of global bizjet departures in Week 15, the region's 45.6% year-onyear decline suppressed global weekly growth by roughly 0.5 percentage points. On a year-to-date basis, the Middle East's cumulative -17.4% performance represents the deepest regional YTD hole in the dataset. Europe's 4.4% weekly decline is also worth monitoring, though as noted last week, calendar effects may still be partially washing through the year-on-year comparisons in the weeks following Easter.

Global Bizjet Departures Trends YTD (1 January-12 April).

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Middle East Weekly Evolution Tracker

WINGX estimated fuel uplift data continues to provide the clearest lens through which to measure the cumulative and weekly toll of the conflict on Middle East business aviation. This week, we have adjusted our pre-conflict baseline to Weeks 7-10 (9 February-8 March). While the conflict outbreak occurred on 28 February in Week 9, the material impact on jet fuel pricing did not begin to be felt until the week of 9 March (Week 11), meaning Weeks 7 – 10 represent another angle for capturing operating conditions before the fuel cost shock began cascading through the market. Across those four weeks, Middle East bizjet activity averaged 1.5M USG of estimated fuel uplift per week, establishing the updated baseline against which subsequent weeks are measured.

Despite changing the baseline weeks, the week-by-week trajectory since Week 11 tells the same story of persistent and deepening suppression. Week 11's initial shock produced a 39% decline vs the pre-conflict average at 922K USG, before Week 12 showed a partial recovery to 1.0M USG (-32% vs baseline), while Week 13 edged slightly higher to 1.1M USG (-29%). Week 14 then broke decisively lower to just 827K USG (-45% vs baseline), the weakest week in the dataset at that point. Most recently, Week 15 recorded 899K USG, -41% vs the pre-conflict average, while the region remains deeply suppressed with no meaningful return to pre-conflict operating levels in sight.

Weekly Middle East bizjet fuel uplift pre vs post conflict.

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On a week-on-week basis, Week 11 fell 39% from the baseline before Week 12 recovered +11% and Week 13 nudged a further +4% higher. Week 14 then erased those gains with a sharp 23% week-on-week decline, before Week 15 partially recovered +9% week-on-week. The overall pattern across the weeks of conflict-affected data is one of volatile oscillation around a deeply suppressed level, with no sustained recovery trajectory yet visible.

Weekly Middle East bizjet fuel uplift week-on-week changes since start of conflict.

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2026 Masters: Augusta delivers strong surge

WINGX data confirms that Augusta Regional Airport (KAGS) recorded 1,417 bizjet arrivals during Masters week (6-12 April), representing a 15x surge ratio above the average weekly arrival levels recorded at KAGS across the first 14 weeks of 2026, one of the most dramatic demand spikes of any recurring sporting event in the calendar.

The final figure came in below WINGX's pre-event forecast of 1,615 arrivals, and represents a slight decline from the 1,441 arrivals recorded during Masters week 2025.

The shortfall against our forecast likely reflects the expected surge ratio of 17x proved to be too optimistic, rather than any bizjet demand weakness, the 15x surge ratio is consistent with the lower end of the historical range and still represents an exceptional week of traffic by any measure.

NetJets recorded 378 arrivals at KAGS during Masters week, marginally below their own projection of 387 arrivals and representing a 27% share of total traffic, slightly above their historical range of 23 – 25%. Augusta once again transformed from a quiet regional airport into one of the busiest bizjet hubs in the country for a single week, underscoring the Masters’ enduring status as one of the premier bizjet demand events in the sporting calendar.

Nick Koscinski, WINGX Analyst, comments: "Despite the decline from the Middle East, which is expected these days, we saw a good week overall, with the market bouncing back after the Easter holiday, and with Augusta delivering the expecting demand surge.

"We’re now looking ahead at the upcoming premier events that could drive bizjet demand above normal levels, like the NFL Draft in Pittsburgh, the Kentucky Derby in Louisville, and the Monaco Grand Prix."

WINGX GmbH
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BlueSky Business Aviation News | 16th April 2026 | Issue #838