US flight activity grows for ninth month running

Flying Colours, Peterborough, Canada facility

US business jet flight activity has risen for the ninth consecutive month, according to the latest data from Argus.

Flying Colours, Peterborough, Canada facility

The latest Argus TRAQPak data, which includes serial-number specific arrival and departure details on all IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) flights in the US and Canada, is showing that flight activity for business jets in August has risen for the ninth consecutive month.

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Month-on-month increases were seen across all cabin sizes and operational categories, with large cabin fractional operations seeing the largest gains.

Large cabin fractional flights increased by 9.5 per cent, with small cabin jets registering a 7.3 per cent rise. Smaller gains were made in the mid-size category, which saw a 2.6 per cent rise.

Charter operations, known in the industry as Part 135 flights, took the saw the smallest gains, with small cabin operations seeing the biggest rise with 1.2 per cent. Close behind were large cabin jets, where saw a 1.1 per cent increase, where as mid-size cabin aircraft only just manage to increase with 0.5 per cent.

Year-on-year gains were lower, but still encouraging, especially for small cabin fractional operations, where a 28 per cent rise was recorded.

Part 135 operations for large cabin jets saw a 9.3 per cent rise, which helped off-set a 2.3 per cent drop in small cabin flights.

All cabin sizes saw up year-on-year gains, with large cabin operations again leading the charge with a 5.3 per cent rise, mid-size with 1.5 per cent and small cabin with 1.3 per cent.