The Business Aviation Industry Is Entering Its Next Era

The final day of Corporate Jet Investor London offered something different: clarity.

Clarity about where we are, where we’re going, and what it will take to lead an aviation sector that is simultaneously growing, consolidating, digitising and being challenged in the public arena.

Across conversations from connectivity and charter optimisation to regulatory threat and OEM strategy, one message emerged consistently: Business aviation is no longer a niche service. It is a critical layer of global infrastructure. And we must start acting and communicating accordingly.

Connectivity Is Entering Its Strategic Phase

The discussion around digital infrastructure and privacy was one of the most important of the day. As Paolo Sommariva (FL3XX) reminded us, business aviation is rapidly shifting toward fully connected, cloud‑native operating systems.

The philosophy is simple: One source of truth. Zero friction. Zero dependency on individuals. But with this shift comes new responsibility. As leaders, we must now answer questions that go far beyond software budgets or systems integration:

• Who controls what data is shared and with whom?
• When does transparency become intrusive?
• How do we protect crew, client and operational privacy in a real‑time world?
• Is privacy now a design challenge rather than a legal one?

The operators who win the next decade will be those who embed privacy, succession and resilience by default, not as an afterthought.

At the same time, consolidation within the connectivity sector highlighted by the acquisitions of Gogo and Satcom Direct is reshaping the ecosystem. Faster speeds, multi network flexibility and sovereign grade security are moving from premium features to baseline expectations. With Kuiper and new LEO/GEO/MEO architectures entering the fray, innovation is accelerating.

Connectivity is no longer about bandwidth. It is about capability, sovereignty, trust and long term system stability. In an increasingly crowded sky with vast satellite deployments from multiple nations and corporations, this matters.

Media, Influence and Narrative: The Industry Must Step Forward

Business aviation’s media landscape has changed irreversibly. With leaders like Steve Varsano and George Galanopoulos reshaping client engagement on TikTok and Instagram, today’s customer arrives informed, educated and expecting clarity not a sales pitch.

As Aoife O’Sullivan emphasised, it is time for all of us to lead the narrative. Events like CJI are no longer events, they are story engines. The conversations, insights and debates that happen in the room should live for months beyond it. For those of us in professional services such as tax, customs, VAT, SPVs, financing, this shift is not optional. It is strategic.

Social platforms now allow us to:

• Explain complexity simply
• Build trust before the first meeting
• Humanise expertise
• Attract future talent
• Showcase technology, compliance and the intellectual rigour of the sector

If we want the next generation to join aviation, not just in the cockpit but across operations, law, finance, compliance, engineering and data, we must show them the scale of the opportunity.

We also need to own our story more assertively: Business aviation equals jobs. Business aviation equals connectivity. Business aviation equals economic resilience. If we don’t define that truth, others will badly.

ACJ Shows Why Scale, Maturity and Certainty Matter

Eric Jullien of Airbus Corporate Jets delivered one of the most pragmatic analyses of the day. ACJ continues to dominate the large cabin segment not because of novelty, but because of certainty:

• Strong, sustained sales momentum
• Growing demand from the Middle East and India
• Access to demonstrators
• Exceptional cabin volume
• Global support ecosystems
• Deep operational data and proven reliability

For financiers, ACJ remains one of the most secure platforms in aviation low credit risk, strong residuals and easier remarketing. At the top end, the Falcon 10X may be the main competitor, but ACJ differentiates itself with scale, maturity, commonality and lifecycle confidence. In an uncertain world, ACJ is selling certainty, and certainty sells.

FBOs: Infrastructure Businesses With Strategic Value

The FBO panel cut through industry mythology and got to the heart of the economics. FBOs are capital intensive, low margin, high complexity enterprises. But when executed properly, they deliver:

• Predictable, infrastructure style earnings
• Long term concessions
• High value recurring customers
• Deep operational defensibility

‘Create a magic carpet ride from car to aircraft’ is simple to say, hard to deliver, and impossible to replicate without scale and expertise. Fuel alone will not sustain this sector. Revenue stacking, diversification and service excellence are the new imperatives particularly as markets like Saudi Arabia open at unprecedented speed.

The takeaway?  FBOs are infrastructure. They deserve infrastructure level strategic thinking, pricing and investment.

Charter, Data and AI: From Reactive to Predictive

Avinode’s Per Marthinsson summarised the charter dilemma perfectly, “Don’t let your schedule decide what you sell. Let your sales define your schedule.” The data is overwhelming. With millions of API calls and hundreds of thousands of monthly requests across the marketplace, the opportunity is clear:

• Sales teams don’t lack enquiries they lack workflow efficiency
• Charter is an inventory optimisation problem
• Clean data, integrated systems and AI assisted workflows will redefine yield
• Customer expectations now exceed what many operators deliver digitally

The future is not flying more, it is selling smarter and deploying better.

France: A Cautionary Tale of Narrative, Policy and Capacity Failure

The taxation environment in France is a sober reminder of what happens when an industry loses control of its narrative. Passenger taxes have jumped from €250 to €750, and in some cases over €2,100, on long range flights. Additional administrative burdens and penalties compound the pressure. This is happening despite business aviation representing:

• Only ~10% of French air traffic
• Delivering ~80% essential business connectivity
• Supporting ~25% of all European bizav employment
• Anchoring national champions like Dassault and Airbus

This is not climate policy. This is capacity failure exacerbated by ATC constraints, strikes and systemic inefficiencies. The fight is not won through silence but through leadership, engagement and education. And encouragingly, for the first time, business aviation has reached the French Senate floor.

OEMs: A Disciplined, Data Driven Cycle

Stephen Friedrich (Embraer) underscored a powerful truth: The current cycle is deliberate, disciplined and structurally sound.

• Demand purposely outpaces supply
• Backlogs are real and financially secured
• OEMs and suppliers are collaborating for quality, not speed
• Fractional ownership is evolving, not cannibalising
• Generational wealth transfer is reshaping buyer expectations

Today’s customer, especially Gen X, is informed, digital first and seeking education before engagement. The aircraft is not the product. Time, capability and reliability are the products. And business aviation remains the most effective time machine on Earth.

Final Thoughts: We Are Entering the Infrastructure Era of Business Aviation

Across every panel, debate and corridor conversation, one truth stood out: Our industry is professionalising, digitising and consolidating faster than ever, and the world is watching.

The winners of this next era will be those who:

• Embrace connectivity with privacy by design
• Lead the public narrative with confidence
• Invest in data, systems, talent and technology
• Build partnerships, not pipelines
• Treat business aviation as essential infrastructure
• Communicate its value clearly and unapologetically

CJI London didn’t just recap the state of our industry. It pointed to its future. And that future belongs to the leaders who step forward now.

If the team missed you at the event feel free to contact hello@martynfiddler.com to arrange a meeting to discuss how Martyn Fiddler can help.