Maintenance Provider Reports Increased Bizav Flying Activity
Business aircraft traffic was higher in the first quarter of 2017 than in the last quarter of 2016.
Maintenance program provider Jet Support Services, Inc. (JSSI) tracks business flying activity as part of its data-collection process, and reported an increase in business aviation flight activity for the first quarter of 2017 in the latest edition of its Business Aviation Index, published on May 3. Overall flight hours worldwide for the first three months of 2017 increased by 1.6 percent compared with the final quarter of 2016, and by 4.4 percent compared with the first quarter of last year.

Breaking down JSSI’s data by region, the Middle East saw the largest increase over the fourth quarter of 2016 (13 percent), followed by 5.7 percent in the Asia Pacific region. By contrast, Central America saw a 6.6 percent decrease. The index also showed that companies involved in business services were responsible for the highest increase in aircraft use at 8.2 percent, followed by healthcare at 7.5 percent and consumer goods industries at 5.3 percent.

The JSSI Business Aviation Index tracks and reports on the flight activity and utilization of close to 2,000 business aircraft worldwide. “This has been one of the strongest starts to the year we have seen in almost a decade,” commented JSSI president and CEO Neil Book. “The significant increase in activity could be an indicator of positive sentiment among businesses concerning the overall economy. With continued strong growth in key regions such as Asia Pacific and industries such as business services, we are optimistic 2017 will be a good year for the business aviation industry.”

JSSI (Booth A74) provides operators with pre-paid programs covering all aspects of maintenance for their aircraft, engines and APUs, allowing them to better predict and control operating costs.