Holiday travel is a fading memory. And for most, how joyous was it?

Crowded parking lots, long security lines, cramped seats, cold- and flu-ridden passengers and lost luggage. Remember?

But at more than 5,000 public airports in the country, including Sarasota Bradenton International, there is a whole other world of travel, a world most of us will never have the privilege to enter. It's the high-dollar, high-maintenance world of general aviation-a mundane term that doesn't even begin to capture the essence of private jet flight. While most people pile up frequent-flier points to beg for an upgrade to first class, that's the only class for these folks.

And when you consider security concerns, time saved and the abundant disposable income in Southwest Florida, it's a niche that is burgeoning. Private takeoffs and landings already outnumber commercial flights in Sarasota by almost four to one, and they're increasing. From January through October 2005, private flights were up more than 13 percent over the same period the previous year. Private terminal operators Dolphin Aviation and Jones Aviation lease about 43 acres from SRQ for their operations, and a third, Rectrix Aerodrome Centers, is starting construction on a state-of-the-art terminal and "hangarminiums" on its 19 acres to serve business and recreational fliers with charter flights and luxury concierge services.

"We saw the amount of growth, the quality of life, the income level and aviation level," says Richard Cawley, Rectrix president and CEO, whose company recently opened a terminal in Hyannis, Mass., and has plans to open five to seven more around the country. "This is a very active area for general aviation, and the infrastructure and management of the airport have been superb."

Sarasota businessman and private plane owner Mark Famiglio says SRQ's private jet traffic began to build after Sept. 11, 2001. "In the last couple of years, the airlines have gotten so congested and time consuming that it really makes sense to fly noncommercial, if you do it judiciously," he says.

Local executives in the industry agree there are practical reasons to shun commercial airlines, which fly to only about 546 airports nationwide. The biggest reason might be that the odds of getting close to your final destination are slim, especially outside of the largest financial and business hubs. Just compare the time it would take a team of executives on a one-day business trip to get to Marquette, Mich., from Sarasota: An 8 a.m. flight means arrival at the airport at least by 7 a.m., a 90-minute flight to Atlanta, and then stops in Minneapolis and Milwaukee, an hour getting luggage and a rental car, then a drive to the final destination. The total trip time is more than nine hours.

With a private jet, you arrive at SRQ when you're ready to leave, take a two-and-a-half hour flight directly to Marquette and hop into a waiting sedan. The flight home gets the entire team back to Sarasota for dinner, while the commercial fliers are stuck in a hotel until they can make the return trip the next morning.

Among the three forms of private aviation-individual ownership, charter service and fractional ownership-there can be up to 100 planes parked at the SRQ facilities. Surprisingly, it's not just corporate execs jetting between Sarasota and New York or Chicago. Dolphin Aviation CEO Ron Ciaravella estimates that 60 percent of his clients are on pleasure trips.

"They do it because they can," he says.

A visit to the Dolphin Aviation lobby confirms this. Uniformed employees staff the computers and radios, in contact with pilots. Porters deliver baggage to waiting planes, and a snack stand serves coffee, soft drinks and muffins. But milling about with all the business suits are guests in velour warm-up suits or denim. In essence, the lobby is a mini airport terminal on the sprawling SRQ grounds. All the services at the main terminal are duplicated here, and then some. Ciaravella describes it as a "marina for the airways."

Over at Jones Aviation, general manager Ed Lindsay says his staff provides the full range of services for aircraft and their passengers, everything from fuel, cleaning and lavatory service to booking rental cars, hotels for the crews and in-flight catering orders. "It's a bit of a concierge service," Lindsay says.

As private aviation is evolving, Lindsay says most people misunderstand what's involved. Although a drive near the property reveals dozens of small planes sitting on the tarmac, that's not what it's about any longer. "Most people, when you say 'general aviation,' they think about one of these single-engine Cessnas," Lindsay says. Private planes now typically seat six to 10 passengers and, like Rectrix's nine-seater Bombardier Challenger 604, offer plush, cream-colored leather seats, gold trim and rich wood accents, looking more like Cadillacs of the air than crop dusters.