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| Business Aviation is up 3 percent according to Argus. Photo: NBAA |
[Avionics Today 01-14-2016] Business aviation in North America saw a year-over-year surge of 2.6 percent in December 2015, fueled by increased holiday travel, according to the latest information released by aviation services group Argus International.
Argus’ data is based on serial-number specific aircraft arrival and departure information on all IFR flights in the U.S. and Canada.
The results by operational category saw significant increases in the Part 91 market from 2014, which posted an increase of 4.9 percent. The Part 135 market followed with a slight increase of 0.5 percent from December 2014. The fractional market was back in the red, down 0.5 percent.
Flight activity by aircraft category was positive across the board, with turboprops leading the way, up 5.3 percent; this marks the 10th consecutive year-over-year increase for the turboprop market. Small and mid-size cabin aircraft posted yearly flight activity gains of 1.4 percent and 0.3 percent respectively. The largest year-over-year gain for an individual segment occurred in the Part 91 turboprop segment, which saw an increase of 9.1 percent from December 2014. 

Looking ahead, Argus estimates there will be a 2.7 percent increase in overall flight activity year-over-year in January 2016 and projections indicate that the first quarter 2016 will be up 5.4 percent from the same period in 2015.