Business aircraft flying in the U.S. climbed for the 13th consecutive month in December, according to TraqPak data released today by aviation services company Argus. Last month, traffic rose 1.6 percent year-over-year, and Argus projects that flying this month will increase by 1.8 percent over last January.
The Part 91 private and Part 135 charter operating segments saw year-over-year improvements of 1.6 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively, last month. Fractional flying fell 2.7 percent from a year ago, attributable to drops in midsize and large-cabin flying in this category.
Flight activity, however, was positive across all aircraft categories last month. Turboprops took the lead with a 3-percent gain in flying, followed by light jets (1.9 percent), large-cabin jets (1.1 percent) and midsize jets (0.1 percent).
By individual segments, Part 135 turboprop flying saw the largest upsurge, and the only double-digit gain, last month at 11.4 percent. Fractional light jets came in second with an 8.6-percent climb. Fractional midsize jets logged the largest slide, falling 6.8 percent last month.
Argus TraqPak data provides “serial-number-specific aircraft arrival and departure information on all IFR flights in the U.S. and Canada.”