Business aviation activity in the U.S. continues to climb, according to Argus. IFR traffic logs show the numbers in March were up by 3 percent compared with March 2015, significant in that this marks the 13th consecutive month with year-over-year gains. Quarterly numbers show there was 4.2 percent more flying so far this year than in the first quarter last year.

Almost all operational categories and business aircraft types shared in the good news, with Part 135 turboprops leading the charge. Year-over-year activity in that segment was up 12.9 percent in March. That offset slight declines in Part 135 operations involving small-, medium- and large-cabin jets, for a total gain of 1.2 percent in the Part 135 category for March.

Compared with February, the numbers for March look good. But even though 2016 is a leap year, February still had two fewer days to fly—6.5 percent less. That hardly dampens the applause in the fractional turboprop segment, however, which logged 22.2 percent more flying in March than in February. None of the operational categories showed negative numbers, though large-cabin jets’ gains were weakest with slight upticks in Part 91 (5.9 percent) and Part 135 (2.9 percent), but solid gains in fractional flying (14.5 percent) amounting to an overall improvement of 6 percent (basically flat, after accounting for the difference in calendar days).

Argus TraqPak data provides “serial-number-specific aircraft arrival and departure information on all IFR flights in the U.S.”