Teterboro Airport Hosts Largest-yet NBAA Regional Forum

Today’s NBAA business aviation regional forum brought 35 aircraft, 130 indoor exhibitors and more than 2,000 attendees to the First Aviation FBO at Teterboro (N.J.) Airport, with the attendance making it the association’s largest regional forum to date.

The honor is appropriate, as Teterboro continues to be the busiest business aviation airport in the U.S. (and therefore the world), said Renee Span, airport manager. She added that TEB has seen total operations increase every year since the low of 138,000 in 2007 to 152,000 last year. Span said she expects the operation level to increase slightly this year or at least remain on par with 2011.

At the forum, NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen noted that his association is promoting the 2012 U.S. general election on its website, with a new feature that tells users the candidates in their states and local communities and each candidate’s position on business aviation. “Only a minority of people vote in the U.S.,” he said. “We can be a majority of the minority.”

Also at the forum, aircraft sales broker Jay Mesinger said he is seeing more used aircraft buyers looking outside the U.S. than previously, one reason being that almost 20 percent of business aircraft in Europe are now being offered for sale. But international transactions add considerable complexity to the purchase process, explained attorney Keith Swirsky of GKG Law.