One of the titans of private equity is making a bet on private aviation and fixed-base operators (FBOs).
Bain Capital on Tuesday announced the acquisition, for an undisclosed fee, of APP Jet Center and its network of five FBO locations in markets such as South Florida and Washington, D.C. APP was previously acquired by Ridgewood Infrastructure in 2022.
Under new management, the company will be led by Mark Johnstone, the former CEO of global FBO titan Signature Aviation.
“We continue to believe that aviation is a space that will benefit from outsized growth and can create durable value across market cycles,” said Matt Evans, a partner at Bain Capital Special Solutions, in a statement.
What It’s Getting
APP was founded in 2009 after acquiring facilities in the San Francisco Bay Area, Washington, D.C., and Florida’s Treasure Coast between Orlando and Miami. It has since expanded to Denver with hangars at Centennial Airport (KAPA). In 2022, it acquired an FBO at Florida’s Witham Field (KSUA).
The company has added new facilities to these locations over the years and per its website intends to continue expanding. It built new complexes at Manassas Regional Airport (KHEF) in Virginia in 2014 and 2020. In 2016, the company added a new FBO terminal and 30,000 square feet of hangar space to its Hayward Executive Airport (KHWD) site in California.
In total, APP owns close to 1 million square feet of hangar space across more than 60 buildings, from T-hangars to those equipped to store the largest business jets. Bain said it will look to selectively expand that footprint with “additional high-quality assets serving supply-constrained markets.” It will also invest in the existing network to meet demand for more space.
Bain said that increased flight activity, modernized aircraft requiring new infrastructure, and limitations on developments at airports have driven strong demand for private and business aviation. The firm’s investment is a bet the trend will continue.
“APP Jet Center is a strong starting point for our FBO strategy, as the business operates at attractive, capacity-constrained airports and has built long-standing relationships with airport authorities and customers,” said Chris Leddy, a managing director at Bain Capital Real Estate.
Per an August report from aviation intelligence company JetNet, business jet flight activity rose 3 percent year over year in the first half of 2025, remaining strong even after a post-COVID slowdown.
The FBO Trend
Bain is not the first private equity titan to take a slice of the FBO pie—and it likely won’t be the last.
In 2021, for example, Johnstone departed Signature after its acquisition by BlackStone, Global Infrastructure Partners, and Bill Gates’ Cascade Investments. The same year, investment firm KKR acquired about 70 Atlantic Aviation FBOs from Macquarie Infrastructure Holdings for about $4.5 billion. KKR later merged Atlantic’s business with Ross Aviation’s 19 locations.
Another large FBO player, Modern Aviation, is backed by Apollo Global Management and Tiger Infrastructure Partners.
Private investment is also flowing to the developers of new aircraft that could one day take advantage of FBOs. Signature and Atlantic, for example, are working with electric aircraft developers Beta Technologies and Archer Aviation—both backed by BlackRock and other large investment firms—to electrify their terminals. Atlantic also works with Joby Aviation, another BlackRock investment. Signature is partnered with Boeing electric air taxi subsidiary Wisk Aero.
