By Per Marthinsson, Managing Director, Avinode Americas.

Now, as ever, North America represents the dominant market for business aviation. As 2015 has progressed, we have seen that market strengthen even further. July 2015, for example, saw an increase of over 5% in business aviation flown activity compared to July 2014. All categories of aircraft, from turboprops to large-cabin aircraft, achieved flight activity gains in that period. At the time of writing, the business aviation industry expects August 2015 will also show flight activity increases compared to August 2014.

At Avinode, our busiest time of the year in North America is just beginning. Traditionally, the spring and summer seasons see slower growth, but as winter sets in and more people want to travel at the same time, the more requests we receive. As we look forward to Thanksgiving this year, we are expecting this fall and winter to set new highs for our business.

At Avinode, we are eager to play our role in the future of business aviation in North America. As an organization with European origins, we naturally closely monitor the differences between the business aviation markets on either side of the Atlantic. Business and cultural differences are opportunities; it is from these opportunities that product development is driven, lessons are learnt and shared, and relationships are built.

As the North American industry becomes more familiar with the Avinode Marketplace and the benefits that it brings to aviation business, we are seeing genuine developments in user behaviour. These changes are demonstrated in how the operators and brokers interact, how they do business together and also what support they need from Avinode to manage and grow their business.

One notable development in the North American market, for example, is the increasing number of users utilising the Avinode Marketplace as their primary communication channel with business partners. Historically, users would search the system for information and then call to make the actual arrangements, rather than sending the request through electronically. Now, however, we are processing more requests than ever before and consequently our operators are of course receiving more requests. In August 2015 the number of requests sent by brokers and customers increased by 30% versus August 2014. Put simply, North American brokers are becoming increasingly comfortable communicating with operators through the Avinode Marketplace. This trend is set to continue. As traffic volumes grow, all members of the industry will want the most efficient means of communicating with partners and doing business.

North America, like Avinode, has an insatiable appetite for innovation in technology. Today, more than ever before, the business aviation industry needs to meet the demands of a young, more tech-savvy audience who expect a private jet to be just as accessible and easy to book as an Uber taxi.

While still a B2B company, Avinode offers its members B2C technology. One particular area in which we have strengthened this B2C offering has been in giving our members the tools to target their clients under their own branding. Previously, our product range in this field included off-the-shelf web applications that members could easily install into their own websites and then customise in aspects such as colour and style. These applications then offered functionality such as search, quote and empty leg details. Over the last 18 months, we have dramatically improved our B2C portfolio by producing more advanced customizable interfaces that allow our members to build their own unique customer experiences using Avinode data. These more advanced and custom-made solutions now meet our members’ demands for even more sophisticated online B2C functionality.

Industry analysts expect North America to remain the largest market for business jet deliveries in the coming decade; infrastructure is strong with more business aviation airfields in North America than in any other continent. But complacency is never an option at Avinode. We will continue to work in partnership with our North American members to support and meet their needs, invest in new product development and be at the forefront of technology in business aviation