Aviation View | April 2021

108 AVIATION VIEW APRIL 2021 W hen it comes to growth, comparing the numbers from 2019 to 2020 can be an enlightening exercise. On the surface, many companies, organizations and individuals achieved less growth than one could ever have expected. When we look at airports, however, the deeper story tells of steady but influential growth – or at the very least so much less of a decline that one can imagine 2020 as a momentary blip in that upward trend. Pennsylvania’s Reading Regional Airport is a prime example. There are currently 97 aircraft based at Reading Regional Airport including 65 single-engine, 17 multi-engine, 12 jets, and two helicopters. In 2019, there were 118 aircraft on the field. Operations this year have really dropped off because of COVID-19. At the end of 2019, there were 46,389 operations and over 12 months in 2020 it was 25,531; almost half as many. In addition, the airport’s charter operation, Boscov’s Travel Centre – which had direct flights from Reading to Orlando for visitors to Disney World – have cancelled all their flights for the time being and may postpone until April. In 2019, there were three Fixed Base Operators at the airport: Reading Jet Center was located on the west apron; Millennium was based on the east apron; and there was a smaller FBO based on ional Airport ALL GOOD ON THE HORIZON