Although operations and fuel sales at the Ocala International Airport slowed last month, the airport is still seeing double digit growth this year according to Airport Director Matthew Grow.
During the Airport Advisory Board’s monthly meeting on Thursday, board members reviewed operations and fuel sales through last month, which are the most recent figures available.
Aviation gasoline (Avgas) sales last month grew by 24.3% over last year’s figures, and are still at 40.2% in year-to-date growth. Avgas is a special type of aviation fuel used in spark-ignited internal-combustion engines to propel aircraft. According to Grow, the city sees 6.5 cents on every dollar of Avgas that is sold at the airport.
In addition to Avgas sales, the airport has seen a 6% increase year-to-date in Jet fuel sales, despite experiencing a 6% decrease in April from last year’s figures.
In total, the airport is still seeing over 11% growth in fuel sales since last year, with much of the sales during this time of year attributable to travel in the equine industry.
With regards to operations, which represent total takeoffs and landings at the airport, last month the airport experienced 7,067, a 17% increase over April 2018 (6,029).
At the current rate, the airport is on pace to break 90,000 operations for the year, although Grow suggests that number will likely be closer to 85,000. Regardless, that number would represent an increase of nearly 18% from last year’s total operations (72,217).