Business aircraft activity bounced back last month, climbing 2.4 percent year-over-year, after August saw a slight erosion, according to TraqPak data released late last week by Argus International. However, this fell short of Argus’s expectation of a 4.9 percent increase for September; the company is predicting a 0.8 percent rise in flying this month.

All aircraft operator categories experienced gains in year-over-year flight activity last month, led by a 4.4 percent increase by fractional providers. This was followed by flying at Part 91 outfits, up 2.4 percent from a year ago, and Part 135/charter, which climbed 1.8 percent.

Likewise, all aircraft categories were in the black, but once again the middle is seeing the most growth. Light jet activity led with a 4.1 percent gain versus September 2018, followed by midsize jets, up 3.3 percent; large-cabin jets, up 1.6 percent; and turboprops, up 0.8 percent.

According to Argus, fractional midsize-jet activity was the only individual category to experienced a double-digit year-on-year increase, rising 11.1 percent. Conversely, fractional large-cabin jet activity saw the only double-digit loss, falling 21.9 percent from a year ago.

Weekday flights rose by 1.8 percent from last September, while weekend traffic fell 3.1 percent. Keeping with recent trends, the U.S. Southeast led all departures, at 50,980, followed by the Great Lakes region at 34,703 and Southern West Coast at 33,336.