March 19, 2024
While total private flights in the U.S. exceeded three million for the third straight clocking 0.9% growth, many of the most popular airports saw declines.
In fact, the six busiest private aviation airports and eight of the nine busiest saw the number of departures decrease in 2019 compared to 2018, according to data from Argus Traqpak.
No airports entered or dropped out of the top 25 list, and the order of the six most trafficked airports remained the same.
Teterboro Airport in Northern New Jersey which is the primary private aviation airport serving Manhattan more than doubled second-place Love Field in Dallas with 73,159 departures compared to 35,253.
However, both saw overall numbers decline, Teterboro dropping by 0.9 while Love Field departures fell by a half-point. Third place Westchester County Airport north of New York City saw traffic fall by 1.8 points.
Van Nuys Airport in Los Angeles and McCarran International rounded out the five busiest private jet airports, followed by Washington – Dulles, Palm Beach International, Houston – Hobby, Denver – Centennial, and Atlanta – DeKalb Peachtree, which saw the biggest gain with a 12.4% increase.
Other airports seeing gains in private jet activity included Miami – Opa-Locka (+8.6%), Salt Lake City (+8.2%), and Scottsdale Municipal Airport which saw a five percent increase.
Boeing Field in Seattle saw the biggest decline, with departures falling 3.4%.
In terms of daily activity, Teterboro averaged just over 200 departures. Ft. Lauderdale Executive Airport which ranked 25th on the listed averaged 41 takeoffs per day.
Looking at the numbers regionally, New York area airports recorded 137,307 private aviation departures in 2019, followed by South Florida with 106,709, Los Angeles at 88,336, Dallas (70,597), and Chicago (58,766).
Of the 25 busiest airports for private aviation use, 10 have no scheduled airline flights.
| City – Airport | 2019 Departures | % Change |
| 1. Teterboro (KTEB) | 73,159 | – 0.9 |
| 2. Dallas Love Field (KDAL) | 35,253 | -.0.5 |
| 3. Westchester County (KHPN) | 32,039 | – 1.8 |
| 4. Los Angeles – Van Nuys (KVNY) | 30,623 | – 0.5 |
| 5. Las Vegas – McCarran (KLAS) | 29,179 | – 0.4 |
| 6. Washington – Dulles (KIAD) | 28,819 | – 1.3 |
| 7. Palm Beach – (KPBI) | 28,094 | + 1.0 |
| 8. Houston – Hobby (KHOU) | 27,551 | – 2.4 |
| 9. Denver – Centennial (KAPA) | 26,895 | – 1.4 |
| 10. Atlanta – DeKalb (KPDK) | 26,164 | + 12.4 |
| 11. Chicago – Midway (KMDW) | 24,998 | – 0.4 |
| 12, Phoenix – Scottsdale (KSDL) | 20,964 | + 5.0 |
| 13. Orange County – John Wayne (KSNA) | 20,921 | + 1.0 |
| 14. Boston – Bedford (KBED) | 19,625 | + 1.1 |
| 15. Nashville (KBNA) | 18,789 | + 0.7 |
| 16. Miami – Opa-Locka (KOPF) | 18,446 | +8.6 |
| 17. Seattle – Boeing Field (KBFI) | 18,162 | – 3.4 |
| 18. Naples, Florida (KAPF) | 17,193 | + 3.0 |
| 19. San Jose, California (KSJC) | 17,143 | + 3.7 |
| 20. Salt Lake City (KSLC) | 16,542 | + 8.2 |
| 21. Austin (KAUS) | 16,470 | – 0.9 |
| 22. San Antonio (KSAT) | 16,209 | – 2.5 |
| 23. Oakland (KOAK) | 15,700 | + 0.3 |
| 24. Chicago – Executive (PWK) | 15,310 | – 2.3 |
| 25. Ft. Lauderdale – Executive (KFXE) | 15,169 | – 2.8 |
