Private Jet Journey Growth: Your Information to the Industry and Elite Fliers

Private jet journey is extra common than ever.

In 2025, there have been 3.7 million non-public jet flights as of December 15 — up 5% from final yr and 35% from pre-COVID ranges, in line with knowledge from aviation intelligence agency WingX.

There are a number of causes for the rise. Some individuals acquired a style of flying non-public throughout the pandemic and do not wish to return to business journey — as soon as you have flown non-public, you do not return — and others are tapping right into a rising want for privateness.

Then there’s the truth that there are merely extra superrich individuals who can afford it.

The variety of ultra-high-net-worth people — outlined as somebody price greater than $30 million — has grown greater than 70% from 2020 to 2025, in line with wealth intelligence agency Altrata. In 2024, that group spent practically $30 billion on non-public jets and yachts.

Plus, the proliferation of fractional possession and membership fashions — suppose NetJets, Flexjet, and VistaJet — makes non-public aviation extra accessible.

“It’s not just for people who have made it, it’s for people who are making it,” Matteo Atti, the CMO of VistaJet’s dad or mum firm, Vista Global, informed Business Insider.

While proudly owning a non-public jet prices tens of millions a yr — that is for upkeep, the crew, gas, and the like, not the aircraft itself — flying non-public by any means remains to be very costly. Pricing can range closely relying on the dimensions of the aircraft, in addition to the place and when it is flying, however Flexjet’s charges begin at $6,500 per hour. (It’s about triple that on the Gulfstream G700, Flexjet’s most elite mannequin.)

Of course, if you’re dropping 5 – 6 figures on a flight, you usually get greater than the straightforward journey from level A to level B. The perks related to flying non-public have solely change into extra excessive. There are facials on board, catering from Nobu, and specialty menus for pets fortunate sufficient to take the journey.

Business Insider has flown on non-public jets, spoken with executives at non-public aviation firms, and analyzed the non-public jets touchdown at occasions favored by billionaires, from Burning Man to the Allen & Co. Sun Valley Conference.

Read on for the whole lot to find out about flying non-public, from a glance inside probably the most unique jets to an inside rationalization of what individuals get mistaken concerning the glamour of all of it.