Jet traffic to ArtBasel MiamiBeach is way down from the boom years but that doesn’t mean the fair has lost its fervor. According to Miami Today, private jet traffic this year is expected to match last year’s much reduced demand:

“It appears that last year for Art Basel, there wasn’t much activity related to aircraft at our airports,” said Marc Henderson, a spokesperson for the county’s Department of Aviation. “It’s hard to tell whether it was due strictly to a continuing depressed economy or whether there were additional factors involved.”

He said Opa-locka Executive Airport only had 20 aircraft related to Art Basel last year, and so far there are only 20 reservations for this year.

Signature Flight Support, the fixed base operator at Miami International Airport, reports a drop during Art Basel week in 2008 to 432 total operations, down from 731 in 2007; in 2009, there were only 390 flights that week.

“In years past,” Mr. Henderson said, “there would have been many more aircraft at Opa-locka, and Signature Flight Support would have filled its ramp space and made use of two large ramp spaces directly controlled by the Aviation Department.”