AAM Glossary · Fixed-Base Operator
What Is an FBO in Aviation?
A Fixed-Base Operator, or FBO, is the service business of an airport: a company granted the right by the airport authority to operate on the field and provide aeronautical services to aircraft and their passengers. When a business jet lands and taxis to a private terminal for fuel, hangar space, and a lounge, that terminal is almost always an FBO. The name is a holdover from aviation's early days, when it distinguished established businesses operating from a fixed location on an airfield from the itinerant operators who preceded them.
What services does an FBO provide?
The core offering is ground handling: fueling, aircraft parking and tie-down, hangar storage, de-icing, and line crews that marshal and service arriving aircraft. Around that core, FBOs run passenger facilities — lounges, concierge services, ground transportation arrangements, crew rest areas — and many add maintenance shops, avionics work, aircraft charter, flight instruction, or aircraft sales. At smaller airports, the FBO is often the entire commercial presence on the field.
How do FBOs fit into Advanced Air Mobility?
FBOs control something AAM needs badly: established aeronautical real estate with fueling infrastructure, ramp access, trained line staff, and standing relationships with airport authorities. That position makes them natural early hosts for vertiport capability — adding charging or hydrogen infrastructure, vertical-lift pads, and passenger handling for eVTOL services alongside conventional operations.
As states begin funding Advanced Air Mobility corridor infrastructure, FBOs are among the entities positioned to develop and operate those facilities at existing airports, extending a service model they have run for decades to a new class of aircraft.
Frequently asked questions
Is an FBO part of the airport or a separate company?
Usually a separate business operating under an agreement with the airport authority, which grants the right to provide aeronautical services on the field. Some airports run their own FBO services directly, and larger airports often host several competing FBOs.
Do FBOs serve airline passengers?
Generally no. Scheduled airlines use their own terminals and ground-handling arrangements. FBOs serve general aviation, business aviation, charter, air ambulance, and government flights — traffic that arrives outside the scheduled airline system.
Can an FBO host eVTOL operations?
Yes, and many are evaluating it. An FBO already offers ramp space, energy and fueling infrastructure, and passenger handling, so adding charging equipment and vertical-lift pads is a natural extension. Airport approval and regulatory review still apply, as with any new aeronautical service.
Related terms
A vertiport is a ground facility purpose-built for aircraft that take off and land vertically, combining landing pads with charging or fueling systems, passenger and cargo handling, and the sensing equipment that safe eVTOL operations require.
Ground Support Equipment (GSE)Ground support equipment is the family of vehicles and machinery that services an aircraft on the ground between flights — moving it, powering it, fueling or charging it, and loading what it carries.
Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)Sustainable Aviation Fuel is a liquid jet fuel produced from non-petroleum feedstocks such as waste oils, agricultural residues, and captured carbon, designed to work in existing aircraft engines while cutting lifecycle carbon emissions.