The Flight International Corporate Aircraft Census is prepared by Aviation Data Services (Avdata): PO Box 2398
Compiled by Kate Sarsfield/LONDON DATA TABLES/Aviation Data Services
If the 1997 Flight International Corporate-Aircraft Census is a barometer for the business-aviation industry, manufacturers will be in bullish mood. Since 1996, the worldwide turbine fleet has increased by around 7% and now stands at 17,333 aircraft. Although turbofans, with an overall fleet of 8,699 aircraft, continue to outsell turboprops, the world turboprop fleet is catching up, with a total of 8,664. According to the US National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) the total jet-powered fleet has increased threefold since 1977. This represents an average growth of 6% a year.
It will come as no surprise that North America continues to dominate the user market, operating about 60% of the worldwide fleet. In 1997, the fleet totals 11,522 aircraft, an increase of 676 aircraft over the previous year, with turbofans and turboprops increasing by 322 and 354 aircraft, respectively. The NBAA claims that "-the size of the turboprop fleet [in North America] has not changed substantially throughout the 1990s, even though inventories identified as business related now include turboprop transport aircraft in military use, thereby noticeably increasing the quantity of turboprop aircraft attributed to business aviation".
Outside North America, Europe remains the second-largest market for business-aviation manufacturers and is home to 1,946 aircraft. The 1997 total shows an increase from 1996 of 129. According to the UK General Aviation and Manufacturers Association (GAMTA), three factors which have led to the growth in European aircraft sales are the rise in economic confidence, the increased globalisation of commerce, and the introduction of fractional ownership by US Executive Jet Aviation (pioneer of the Netjets scheme), Air Luxor of Portugal and Switzerland's Zimex Aviation.
Several factors continue to create obstacles for further growth on the continent, in particular the problem of airport access at several major airports, especially in the UK, where the issue has now been drawn to the attention of Government ministers and senior politicians, and the continued negative public and commercial perception of business aviation as an unnecessary luxury. "We have to change the public's perception of business aviation, and introduce the use of advocacy," says GAMTA chief executive Graham Forbes. The contrast with North America, where corporate aircraft are regarded as a business tool, offering safe, secure, flexible and cost-effective travel, could not be starker.
Once again, the former CIS countries continue to show an upward trend. In 1992, the Flight International survey recorded only one business jet in Russia. In 1997, 17 aircraft (16 turbofans and one turboprop) are listed for the individual CIS nations and Baltic states.
South America, with 1,620 aircraft in 1997, ranks third in the aircraft user market. This, compared with 1996, is a significant increase of 144. All nations, with the exception of Paraguay and the Falkland Islands (where there is no change), have increased their aircraft fleets. The largest increase in a single country is seen in Argentina, up by 55 aircraft, followed by Brazil, with an increase of 48.
On the African continent, South Africa uses the greatest number of aircraft, followed a long way behind Nigeria. In Asia, a growing market for business aviation, Japan leads the tables with 180 aircraft. Overall, the statistics reveal that turboprop and turbofan fleets in Asia, Europe and the USA are well balanced, whereas operators in Africa, Oceania and South America operate nearly twice as many turboprops as jets.
With confidence returning to the industry, many observers are predicting a positive future for the corporate-aircraft industry. According to GAMTA, "-the medium forecast for business aviation is good". This optimism is borne out by the US General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), which reports that sales of new aircraft (including pistons) reached $3.1 billion in 1996. This, according to GAMA, is largely because of a resurgence in the turboprop market and continued strength in the export market. Based on this year's second-quarter results, GAMA expects a further increase in sales for 1997. "It appears that optimism in the general-aviation industry for 1997 is well founded," says GAMA president Ed Bolan
Source: Flight International