North American business aviation activity rose 0.3% year on year in August, with stronger fractional flying offsetting weaker demand in other segments, Argus International’s TraqPak data showed. Fractional operators increased flying 7.9%, while Part 135 activity was flat and Part 91 flying fell 2.9%. The mixed performance left the market slightly positive overall even as larger-cabin and midsize aircraft underperformed.
Travis Kuhn, senior vice president of software at Argus, linked the result to normal late-summer seasonality as back-to-school travel replaces peak leisure demand. He also maintained the outlook for a September decline in North America, consistent with the firm’s January forecast. Within the regional fleet mix, turboprops rose 3.3% and light jets gained 2.9%, while midsize jets fell 1.9% and large-cabin jets dropped 6.2%. Large-cabin fractional flying was the strongest category, up 14.9%.
Argus also reported that global business aviation activity increased 0.6% year on year in August, while Europe declined 1% for a second consecutive month.