Number of Business Aviation Flights Declines

In October, for the second month in a row, the number of business aircraft flights in the U.S. fell from the same period in 2010. The year-over-year change was minus 1.5 percent in October and minus 1.3 percent in September, according to aviation services company Argus. Continuing a recent trend, Part 91 operations (all non-commercial flights) posted a year-over-year increase of 2.6 percent in October. The number of flights by fractional-share owners, however, slipped 3.1 percent from a year earlier. And for the ninth consecutive month, Part 135 charter activity fell–this time by 7.9 percent from October 2010. Flight activity declined for most aircraft categories, including large-cabin jets (down 2.6 percent), turboprops (down 2.3 percent) and midsize jets (down 1.5 percent). Flights on light jets, however, increased a slight 0.4 percent from the same month last year. Argus’ data incorporates “serial-number-specific aircraft arrival and departure information on all IFR flights in the U.S.”