Based on current data from the Australian Parachuting Federations website there are 43 listed operators:
- 99% were aeroplanes
- 1% were helicopters and hot-air balloons.
The operators in this sector on average, conduct about 17,500 flight hours (Figure 1), with 80% of the hours used by 5 aeroplane types (Figure 2).
The Cessna C208 account for a total of 44% of the total number of aircraft within this sector. The Cessna C182 and C206 account for 22%.
| Year | Flight hours |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 18,600 |
| 2015 | 22,100 |
| 2016 | 22,600 |
| 2017 | 23,000 |
| 2018 | 20,700 |
| 2019 | 17,100 |
| 2020 | 9,500 |
| 2021 | 10,300 |
| 2022 | 13,900 |
| Aircraft | Flight Hours | % |
|---|---|---|
| C208 | 7578 | 44 |
| C182 | 2436 | 14 |
| C206 | 1447 | 8 |
| GA8 | 1199 | 7 |
| P750 | 893 | 5 |
| C172 | 325 | - |
| DHC2 | 299 | - |
| C185 | 272 | - |
| PA31 | 265 | - |
| Other | 229 | - |
| FU24 | 210 | - |
| P28A | 203 | - |
| C150 | 131 | - |
| E110 | 79 | - |
| C210 | 79 | - |
| C180 | 70 | - |
| CRES | 69 | - |
| DH82 | 62 | - |
| M20P | 55 | - |
| C152 | 54 | - |
| BE36 | 52 | - |
There was a reduction in flying hours across the sector from 2020 to 2022. Like other aviation sectors, COVID caused the flights hours to reduce over this time. However, unlike other sectors, the parachuting sector has not rebounded as quickly.
There has also been a decline in registered aircraft used in parachuting operations (Figure 3) and an increase in aircraft average age (Figure 4).
| Year | Number of aircraft |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 2190 |
| 2015 | 1256 |
| 2016 | 1031 |
| 2017 | 736 |
| 2018 | 560 |
| 2019 | 513 |
| 2020 | 418 |
| 2021 | 371 |
| 2022 | 307 |
Source: BITRE, CASA database
| Year | Average age |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 39.7 |
| 2015 | 41.1 |
| 2016 | 42.2 |
| 2017 | 42.7 |
| 2018 | 44 |
| 2019 | 43.4 |
| 2020 | 46.1 |
| 2021 | 48.1 |
| 2022 | 49 |
Source: BITRE general aviation survey data