Shipments of general aviation aircraft, business jetc and high-speed turboprops have risen by almost one-fifth so far this year, driven by growth in the US economy and export orderbooks.
Bulging orderbooks are fuelling ever higher deliveries as manufacturers of general and business aviation aircraft continue their drive toward record results. Shipments rose almost 19% in the first nine months, to more than 2,840 jet, turboprop and piston aircraft, according to figures from the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA).
Shipments of general aviation aircraft (including business jets) for the first nine months of this year totalled 2,842 units, an increase of 18.9% over the same period last year, while industry-wide billings were $13.2 billion, up 28.6%, the association says.
“General aviation plays an indispensable role in contributing to the vitality of the US economy and now we are seeing GA playing an ever increasing role in the global marketplace,” said Pete Bunce, GAMA’s president and chief executive.
Almost every manufacturer contributed to the growth in deliveries, led by an increase of more than 23% in business-jet shipments over the same period last year, to 629 aircraft (see table below).
You can view the entire GAMA 2006 Shipment Report in Adobe portable document format (PDF) from the association's website. An analysis by company can be found in next week's issue of Flight International magazine.
| GA SHIPMENTS Q3 2006 | |||
| Type |
2005 |
2006 | Change |
| Pistons |
1,653 |
1,957 |
+18.4% |
| Turboprops |
228 |
256 |
+12.3% |
| Business jets |
510 |
629 |
+23.3% |
|
Total shipments |
2,391 |
2,842 |
+18.9% |
| Total billings |
$10.3bn |
$13.2bn |
+28.6% |
| Notes: 1. GAMA defines a shipment occuring when an aircraft is shipped from its production facility to a customer. Deliveries are not measured. 2. Aircraft are considered to be manufactured in the USA if they are produced under an FAA production certificate. Source: GAMA | |||
Source: FlightGlobal.com
