Business aircraft flying in the U.S. and Canada recorded its 14th consecutive monthly increase in January, rising 0.3 percent year-over-year despite snowstorms that disrupted traffic in the Northeast, according to TraqPak data released yesterday by aviation services company Argus. The company is projecting that flying this month will improve by 0.9 percent from last February.
Following recent trends, activity at Part 91 and Part 135 operators climbed last month, this time by 0.3 percent and 1 percent, respectively. Fractional flying dropped 1.9 percent from a year ago, as midsize and large-cabin flying in this category continued to plummet.
Flight activity was mixed by aircraft category. Turboprops and large-cabin jets logged respective gains of 0.9 percent and 2.5 percent, while light and midsize jet flying were down by 0.3 percent and 1 percent, respectively.
In individual segments, fractional light jet activity recorded the only double-digit advance last month, rising 11.7 percent. Meanwhile, fractional large-cabin jets logged the largest drop, falling 8.4 percent.
Argus TraqPak data provides “serial-number-specific aircraft arrival and departure information on all IFR flights in the U.S. and Canada.”