Used bizjet market remains flat

The number of pre-owned business jets for sale has hovered around the 2,500 level over the past several years since climbing from about 1,600 before 2008, according to business aviation market information firm JetNet.

While pre-owned business jet inventory is now receding as a percent of the in-service fleet, it is doing so only because of new aircraft entering service, the company said. In fact, JetNet’s latest market report, released today, indicates that pre-owned jet inventory fell 0.6 percentage points last month, to 13.3 percent, year-over-year.

But for-sale business jet inventory has remained nearly flat–2,537 at the end of last month versus 2,567 a year earlier.

During this time the number of in-operation business jets climbed by 472 to 19,005, a figure that also accounts for 132 aircraft that were retired over the 12-month period.

Meanwhile, the pre-owned business turboprop has “clearly moved into a seller’s market,” JetNet said. This inventory stood at 7.9 percent last month, down 1.5 percentage points from a year ago. And, unlike the business jet segment, the turboprop segment is experiencing a drop in the number of aircraft for sale, with inventory at 1,090 late last month–52 fewer aircraft than were on the block 60 days earlier.

(Aviation International News)