(Bloomberg) – The Gulfstreams and Learjets crowding the tarmac at the small airport in Augusta after flying in for the Masters Golf Tournament are sending a clear signal: Luxury flying is unabashedly back.

"This year should be bigger for us than any year since '07," said Jordan Hansell, chief executive officer of NetJets, the largest private-aviation company, owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Both golf and private aviation suffered during the 2008-2009 recession. Business jets were shunned after auto executives took them to Washington to request bailout money. After that, companies found that corporate jets were an easy area to cut costs.

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