If you’re thinking of selling your business jet or buying your next one, it’s good to see what the market is doing.
According to JETNET, leading provider of corporate aviation data, worldwide business jet transactions for pre-owned aircraft were off to a slow start in the first quarter of 2015. There were 76, or 13.5%, fewer pre-owned transactions quarter to quarter, but aircraft are taking 66 fewer days to sell than last year, with a sizeable 20.5% increase in average asking price.
Following a similar pattern, business turboprops showed a decrease of 5.7% in pre-owned transactions, and a 117-day shorter time to sell, but with a hefty 32.1% increase in asking price. Generally, the higher asking prices reflected the fact that relatively newer jets and turboprops were sold in the first quarter of 2015 compared to 2014.
As trends shift, the increase in asking price is one of the largest increases JETNET has recorded. A total of 488 pre-owned business jets sold during the first quarter of 2015, with 334 average days on the market. For turboprops, 282 turned with an average of 305 days on the market.
With the exception of the very light jets, all weight groups showed double-digit decreases in the number of used retail sale transactions with the light weight group (10,001-20,000 lbs) comprising 176 or 36% of the transactions, followed by heavy weight (35,000+ lbs) at 146, or 30%, and medium (20,001-35,000 lbs) at 137, or 28%. These three weight groups combined accounted for 94% of the total transactions in the 2015 first quarter. The VLJs comprised the remaining 6%.
Data for the month of March, 2015 indicated that of the 20,170 business jets in operation worldwide, 2,276, or 11.3% of the total were offered for sale. For turboprops, 1,149 aircraft, or 7.9% of the total, were on the market.
In addition to the 488 pre-owned jet sales, there were 133 new business jets delivered worldwide in the first quarter of 2015, down from 154 new jets in same period in 2014. Overall, North America was most active for pre-owned jets with 78% of the worldwide total, followed by Europe, South America and Asia with much smaller percentages.
Source: JETNET LLC
About JETNET
Since 1988, JETNET LLC has delivered the most comprehensive and reliable business aircraft research to its exclusive clientele of aviation professionals worldwide. JETNET is the ultimate source for information and intelligence on the worldwide business, commercial, and helicopter aircraft fleet and marketplace, comprised of some 100,000 airframes. Headquartered in its state-of-the-art facility in Utica, NY, JETNET offers comprehensive user-friendly aircraft data via real-time internet access or regular updates.