Avantair Plans to Double Fleet Size

Fractional provider Avantair, which now operates 52 Piaggio Avanti II turboprop twins, said recently that it expects to expand the fleet to 107 aircraft over the next three years and that first-quarter sales for its aircraft card program were up 183 percent from the same period in 2009. The Clearwater, Fla. company now controls more than 29 percent of the fractional light jet market, according to a February report from AvData. In other Avantair news, the company has announced that it will offset carbon emissions for all new fractional owners and Edge Card and Axis Club members with TerraPass, a retailer and marketer of greenhouse gas reduction offsets.