India added 20 business jets in 2025, Asia-Pacific's largest national net gain, taking its fleet to 188 as regional growth picked up, according to aviation market research firm Asian Sky Group.
India's fleet grew 11.9% and ranked third in the region at year-end. Vietnam had the highest percentage growth, at 66.7%, while the Asia-Pacific fleet expanded 1.5%, compared with 1.0% in 2024.
Asian Sky Group said long-range and large jets drove India's increase. Its webpage lists seven new deliveries and 23 pre-owned additions, offset by 12 removals. Those figures yield a net gain of 18, two fewer than the stated increase of 20; the webpage does not reconcile the difference.
India is developing GIFT City's International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) as an aircraft leasing and financing hub. A joint May 8 summit release said AI Fleet services, an Air India subsidiary, aims to increase the number of aircraft leased through GIFT IFSC from 50 to at least 75 during fiscal 2027.
That plan concerns airline fleets. Neither the joint release nor Honeywell Aerospace's public release establishes a link between GIFT City leasing and India's 2025 business-jet gain.
Honeywell forecasts about 14,000 business-aircraft deliveries worldwide from 2026 through 2035, including 9,950 business jets and 4,200 turboprops. Its outlook now includes turboprops and personal jets.
Honeywell projects roughly 29% growth in the worldwide business-aviation fleet by 2035, to nearly 51,000 aircraft from about 39,400 in 2025. It projects about 34% more flight hours over the same period.
Honeywell said charter, managed-fleet and fractional-ownership arrangements are contributing to aircraft use. It expects deliveries and low retirement rates to expand the fleet, increasing demand for maintenance, upgrades and support services. Asian Sky Group said India relies on overseas facilities for heavy maintenance.
Linnea Whisler, Honeywell Aerospace's president of Commercial Original Equipment, said demand is coming from both private aviation and shared-use services.
In Honeywell's survey of 306 nonfractional operators representing 1,558 business aircraft, nine in 10 expected to fly as many or more hours in 2027 as in 2026. Actual flight hours in 2027 will show whether that expectation holds.
