U.S. Bizav Flight Activity Continues Climb, Says Argus

Business aircraft flying ticked up 2.1 percent year-over-year in the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean last month, according to TraqPak data released today by business aviation research firm Argus International. This was better than the 0.9 percent increase the company had predicted for the month; Argus is calling for a 1 percent increase this month.

Part 91 activity logged another solid month, climbing 3.8 percent from last August. This was followed by a 0.4 percent increase in Part 135 operations, while fractional flying was flat from a year ago.

For the second consecutive month, all business aircraft categories except for light jets recorded gains. Midsize jet flying marked a resurgence last month, rising 4.2 percent, with turboprops not far behind with a 3.1 percent uplift from a year ago. Large-cabin jets, which have been at the top of the leaderboard for most of the past several years, climbed 1.9 percent year-over-year, while light jet activity dropped by 1.6 percent, continuing recent losses in this category.

Part 135 large-cabin jet flying saw the only double-digit gain in individual categories, rising 14.5 percent. Conversely, fractional large-cabin jets posted the only double-digit decrease, falling 24.8 percent.