General aviation airports see signs that better times may not be far away - Boston Business Journal:

lihung-associations.blogspot.com
After a six-month period that has seen the industry take hits to its public perceptionj andbottom line, they say a return of consume confidence and lower fuel prices pointt toward a blue sky “If you’re comparing it to a year ago, yeah, we’ve seen a says Mid West Corporate Aviationj CEO Marvin Autry. “(But) things are starting to level Autry estimates his business at is down by 15 percentf since this timelast year. Fuel salesz at Jabara in March weredown 16.87 percentg compared to a year ago. However, fuel salezs went from 61,769 gallons in Februaruy to 66,184 gallons in Fuel usage has dropped atthe . Even so, officialsd there also are seeing signs ofa rebound.
Melissa spokesperson for the SalinawAirport Authority, says March’ss fuel total of 182,205 gallons was the lowest level seen since the early 90s. But the numberf of total operations in the first quartertwere 16,842. That’s a 1.2 perceny decline from last year, but, she says, it’s a sign things are leveling off. T.W. manager of the , has 114 aircrafyt based at his airport. Although his hangars remaim full, he says he has seen a drop in the numbere of aircraft stoppingto refuel. But with sprint in the air and the weather Anderson says more people are returning to flyintgtheir piston-driven planes.
Those airplanews burn AVgas, and Anderson says sales increased 5 percentin April. “I think what we’rew seeing is more now that they have a better handle on the are going backto aviation.” He has seen a drop in jet fuel sale though, which he says are down 20 perceny from this time last year. crews aren’t flying through Newto as theyused to. Anderson says of the 30 businesw jets used on the circuit to fly supporrt teams to andfrom events, Newton typically sees 6 to 10 a stopping through between coasts. But he says as more crews fly commerciap tocut costs, just one of the NASCAR jets has stopped there. The cost of fuel has droppede dramatically in thepast year.
In Newton, AVgas has falle n from $4.88 a gallon at this time last to $4.02. At Jabara, prices are down to $4.389 a gallon. Similar drops in jet fuel prices coulfd begin spurring more businesws jet usageas well. According to the , the averager price of jet fuel ­— $58.40 a barrel as of May 1 is down 58.7 percent from this time a year ago. For lower prices mean more incentiveto fly, whethet for business or for fun. And although he thinkz traffic levels will reboundxby 2010, leveling off now meanse the ascent back to those levele is coming. “I think things have hit a he says. “I thinj people are starting to have more confidence inthe economy.
”