Business Aviation Airports: A Contrast to the Commercial Airline Hubs

• The nation’s air transportation system is made up of approximately 5,300 public-use airports.
• The commercial airlines serve about 550 of these facilities – fewer than 11 percent. The busiest airports handle the majority of all airline passengers.
• Most operators of business aircraft do not use the busiest commercial airports, preferring instead to fly in and out of “reliever” airports, which often are not served by commercial airlines. The ability to use these smaller, less-congested facilities is key to the value and flexibility of business aviation aircraft.
• As a result, business aviation operations at the nation’s 20 busiest hub airports account for less than 3 percent of total activity.

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