FLYING Media Group (FMG) has acquired AvBuyer, a leading business aircraft listing marketplace and large business aviation media brand.
For 25 years, AvBuyer has been providing aircraft owners and operators with key information so that they can make better-informed buying decisions across all areas of business aviation operations.
AvBuyer includes AvBuyer.com, one of the most active business aircraft listing marketplaces, and AvBuyer magazine, a printed magazine with market intelligence that is distributed to FBOs all over the world. FMG also acquired GA Buyer Europe and GA Buyer Africa, which offer classified listings and marketplaces that cover the European and African general aviation markets.
In addition to providing a liquid marketplace for dealers to match with prospective buyers, AvBuyer is a leading market intelligence provider in the business aviation community.
“AvBuyer is one of the most respected brands in the aircraft dealer and buyer communities. Now with a significant global presence, the FMG platform has the most expansive reach for prospective buyers of any classified aircraft listing provider in aviation,” Craig Fuller, CEO of FMG, stated.
FMG owns one of the fastest growing aircraft listing marketplaces, Aircraft for Sale (AFS) and AircraftforSale.com. The Aircraft for Sale monthly print edition is sent to every FLYING Magazine subscriber and is distributed to FBOs across North America.
FMG plans to continue to build Aircraft for Sale, which is focused on the pilot community, and AvBuyer, which is focused on the business aviation and fleet operator community.
FLYING Media Group has the largest audience of active and prospective aircraft buyers of any media provider across its portfolio of 26 aviation brands, online sites, and marketplaces.
“With our acquisition AvBuyer, FLYING Media Group’s massive and engaged audience is unmatched by any other aviation media provider. Dealers and OEMs that want to get their message and listings in front of the largest number of prospects should certainly look to FLYING Media Group,” Fuller stated.
FMG plans to bring the AvBuyer editorial operations and content into its expansive media platform that includes FLYING Magazine, Kitplanes, Business Air, Plane & Pilot, Aviation Consumer, Aviation Safety, AVweb, Airline Geeks, AircraftforSale, and IFR.
Continuing a process that began after the acquisition of FLYING, FMG plans to make significant investments in its B2B editorial and creative studios over the next year.
Fuller continued, “FLYING has nearly 100 reporters and regular contributors that cover the aviation industry, making it the largest media provider in the $2.5 trillion aerospace industry. We will continue to invest in the expansion of FMG through a combination of acquisitions and organic growth initiatives in the markets that we serve.”
It’s a little weird to have a byline and then quote yourself. The rules of journalism are often unwritten, vague, and in the eye of the beholder, but this should either have ideally been an editorial written personally, or by someone else quoting the press release.
Either way, congrats on the acquisition.
My fault on that. I’ll fix it.
With Fuller running this roll-up, which US aviation magazines are NOT owned by FLYING, now?
It’s kind of a shame, too. Fuller converted FLYING from a magazine full of interesting, informative, educational and authoritative articles to a collection of very pretty pictures with a lot of irrelevant, empty text, much of it entirely unrelated to aviation written by people with little or no background in aviation. I hope he allows the focused publications like Aviation Consumer to continue their traditional excellent work.
Absolutely agree. I’ve been a subscriber for 61 years. Flying has the looks of a quality magazine–but is far from the CONTENT it had from the days of Gill Rob Wilson to Richard Collins (not to mention the other famous columnists that went on to other publications during their careers.)
FLYING also had a more diverse content than it does now–articles on historic aircraft–a sense of “retrospective” about how flying has changed over the years–and an unbiased and broad perspective on how to USE your airplane……Richard Collins used his Cessna 172 in his work, and was one of the biggest factors in the acceptance of single-engine “hard IFR.”
They’ve got the PRODUCTION of the magazine right–but looking for them to better define the CONTENT.
What Fuller has done, he purchased Flying Mag, the best aviation mag in my opinion. But he knew it wasn’t going to make money and he made it the ROBB report for flying. Now they’re buying everything else and he’ll make money and Flying Mag is no longer great, will never be great and he doesn’t care.
So, the conglomeration of aviation media continues.
Pretty soon, there won’t be any competing mags with anything more than pretty pictures.
If you can’t beat ’em, buy’ em.
When this is complete, there won’t be any jobs for good aviation writers, only photographers.
And soon will come the AI fakes of even that.
As aviation dies off, I guess it’s fitting for aviation writing to go at the same pace.
Where are the modern-day Gordon Baxters, Richard Collins’, Barry Schiffs, et al? People with actual insight and good teaching.
With a few notable exceptions, like Paul Bertorelli and a couple of others, there’s nothing left but flashy photos.
At least soon, there’ll only be one company to complain about. They’ll have bought up all the competition. Then some will wonder why there are no choices.
I thought competition was good for maintaining quality. Guess we’ll see.
I agree with the above. I have been reading Flying Mag for 40 years. When my current subscription is up and will not bother to re-new it.
I just hope Fuller doesn’t destroy KitPlanes.
Simple: Join AOPA !
Even AOPA PILOT magazine, included in your membership, has started to become like a rendition of “Gentleman’s Quarterly” magazine.
Idyllic photographs are touted of ” Flying Destinations ” with accompanying stories written by non-aviation oriented/non pilot certificated authors.
I love print magazines! I have every issue of Flying since July of 1962–and subscribe to most of the major aviation magazines. I have an entire library room filled with old issues (including Air Facts going back to the 1930s!)–it is interesting to see how aviation reportage has changed over the years. Initially it was “Gee, look at the new offerings from _______!” It changed to a more objective reporting–and the likes of Baxter, Collins, and Schiff gave us important things to consider on how we actually USED the aircraft in their reporting. You have the perfect reference on reportage today in your comment about “Gentleman’s Quarterly”–“Look at this shiny thing over here!!! The closest thing I’ve seen to the old-fashioned Objective Reporting is Aviation Consumer–and Fuller now owns THAT magazine, as well!