The slump in the global oil price, coupled with a fall in demand from emerging markets, led to a steady decline in deliveries of high-end business jets between January 2014 and June 2015, according to the latest research from Flightglobal’s Ascend consultancy.
In contrast, shipments of business jets in the light and midsize sectors rebounded during the same timeframe, Ascend reveals. This turnaround is due largely to the introduction of a slew of new and upgraded aircraft models and an improving US economy.
“Last year’s bump in new deliveries was driven by light and midsize aircraft,” says Ascend.
The introduction of the Embraer Legacy 500, Bombardier Challenger 350 and Cessna Citation X+ last year, combined with a surge in demand for these transcontinental types in the USA – the largest business aircraft market – helped to boost midsize shipments by nearly 16%, to 170 aircraft in 2014 according to Ascend, compared with 2013. The introduction of fresh designs, such as the Citation M2, also helped to propel the light jet shipment tally by 11%, to 286 aircraft in the same period.
This contrasts with a fall in deliveries of large-cabin, long-range jets and VIP airliners, from 265 in 2013 to 262 last year, Ascend reveals.
Meanwhile, high-end business jets saw a 15% decline in shipments between January and June this year compared with the first six months of 2014, says Ascend. Midsize deliveries climbed by 10% during the same period.
China, a key market for top-of-the range aircraft, has seen its share of new jets fall considerably this year, due to the country’s economic slowdown, the research discloses. Similarly, the deepening financial crisis in Brazil – home to the largest business aircraft fleet outside the USA – has had a huge impact on new shipments into that country.
However, thanks largely to burgeoning demand for second-hand jets in Argentina, Mexico and Venezuela, Latin America is poised to overtake Europe as home to the second-biggest inventory of business jets outside North America, says Ascend.
Source: Flight International
