High-flyers’ demand for private jets gives rise to record year

By Kevin Done

Published: February 13 2008 02:00 | Last updated: February 13 2008 02:00

Deliveries of business jets hit a record last year, supported by increasing demand in global markets, particularly outside the US.

Business jet makers led by Canada’s Bombardier, Gulfstream, Cessna and Hawker Beechcraft of the US and Dassault of France, delivered more than 1,000 jets for the first time.

With large order backlogs at most manufacturers and waiting lists of two to three years for the most sought- after jets, deliveries are forecast to remain high this year.

Private aviation has enjoyed an unprecedented boom in the past three years, as executives and rich individuals have sought to avoid the hassle, inconvenience and delays of flying through congested hub airports and to use business jets to increase executive productivity. The increasing popularity of private jets is also attracting growing interest from commercial airlines.

Lufthansa, the German flag carrier, is due to announce plans to be the first European airline to set up its own fleet of business jets to augment the services offered to its most lucrative premium customers.

The General Aviation Manufacturers Association said yesterday that worldwide business jet deliveries had risen 28.4 per cent from 886 in 2006 to a record 1,138 last year.

Alan Klapmeier, chairman of Gama, said “a strong worldwide market, especially outside North America, was a driving factor for general aviation in 2007”.

He said manufacturer backlogs were “strong and we think this bodes well for 2008 and the years beyond”.

Last year was the fourth consecutive year of growth since the trough of 2003, and according to the latest forecast by Honeywell Aerospace, a leading supplier to the sector, business jet deliveries are expected to rise to more than 1,300 in 2008.

Bombardier was the leading maker of business jets measured by the value of deliveries, while Cessna, a subsidiary of Textron, which dominates the segments for light and mid-sized jets, delivered the highest number of executive jets.

Demand is being stimulated by a surge in product development, and last year marked the first deliveries of significant numbers of very light jets (VLJ), an emerging segment, which is substantially lowering the price of chartering and buying private jets.

Eclipse Aviation delivered 98 of its Eclipse 500 VLJs last year, while Cessna delivered 45 of its entry level Citation Mustangs.

Embraer of Brazil is due to start deliveries of its four-seat Phenom 100 very light jets in the summer.

At the other end of the market Aerion, the US advanced engineering group, is seeking to reintroduce commercial supersonic flight.

Last year it said that it had secured its first letters of intent from potential customers for about 20 of its planned supersonic business jets, although it has yet to agree a manufacturing deal for the aircraft.