Business Aircraft Flying Strengthens in October

Business aircraft activity in the U.S. and Canada in October reached the highest levels for that month since 2007, industry data and safety expert Argus reported. Business aviation flights in October were up 4.8 percent from the previous month and 0.2 percent from October 2014, according to the latest Argus TraqPak Business Aircraft Activity report. TraqPak measures serial-number-specific aircraft arrival and departure information on all IFRflights in the U.S. and Canada.

All categories for flight activity improved in all classes of aircraft from September to October. Leading the way were Part 135 midsize cabin jet operations, which were up 9.2 percent in October. Part 135 operations involving large-cabin jets also were up, by 8.8 percent, last month. Part 135 flying increased 5.2 percent in total, while fractional operations improved 4.4 percent and Part 91 was up 4.6 percent.

Compared with October 2014, fractional and Part 91 flying was down (by 5.1 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively), but the 3.2 percent increase in Part 135 operations pushed up business aircraft flight activity overall. Part 135 turboprop flights jumped 8.8 percent compared with October 2014, while Part 135 midsize cabin flights increased by 4.4 percent and Part 135 large cabin flights by 3.6 percent. But fractional flights decreased in every aircraft category except small-cabin flights year-over-year. The largest drop came with fractional midsize-cabin jet flight activity, down 8.7 percent. Part 91 activity was mixed.