Aircraft financier and lessor the CIT Group is forecasting strong US demand for corporate aircraft over the next two years. The group says globalisation of business, strong corporate profits and a vibrant US economy will result in sales of some 5,300 new and used business aircraft, worth $18.2 billion, this year and next.
CIT is predicting that by the end of the year, domestic sales of new business aircraft will have risen by almost 10% over 1997, to 320 jets and 110 turboprops. The growth forecast for 1999 is more modest - to 330 jets and 115 turboprops.
The group expects domestic secondhand aircraft sales to reach a plateau, with the used turboprop market forecast to peak this year at 1,160 units then decline slightly to 1,050 units in 1999. Used jet sales are expected to increase only marginally, to 1,110 units this year and 1,125 in 1999.
CIT believes that factors behind the growth in corporate aircraft sales include the introduction of attractive new models and the low cost of entry offered by fractional ownership. "Businesses have come to realise the benefits of owning and operating a business aircraft despite the associated costs," says Mike Paslawskyi, vice-president of economic research for CIT.
The Livingston, New Jersey-based group believes fractional ownership will continue to be the fastest-growing sector of the US corporate aircraft market.
Source: Flight International