Van Nuys Airport reported an increase of 3.6 percent in aircraft operations last year after a turndown in 2012, officials said Friday. The San Fernando Valley airfield reported 273,100 operations – defined as a takeoffs or landings – as compared to 263,900 in 2012. The increase can be attributed to more small air charter, corporate and private jet flights, said Jess Romo, manager of the airport. “We are starting to see not a huge increase, but 3 percent for the year gets us back in the right direction in terms of operations,” he said. Another indication of airport activity is the amount of fuel sales. More than 17 million gallons of fuel, primarily for jet aircraft, were dispensed at Van Nuys in 2013, down 200,000 gallons from the previous year. However, the lower sales were attributed by Romo to 10 days in July when the main runway was shut down for a repair project. “If not for that, we would have been in the positive area with the fuel delivery,” he said. In 2012, takeoffs and landings were down 14.9 percent compared to 2011.