Worldwide deliveries of general aviation aircraft continue to plummet, with overall shipments for the first nine months of the year falling by over 9% compared with the same period in 2002, to 1,602 units, according to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association. Industry billings fell by 24% to $6.43 billion during the same timeframe.
Business jet deliveries suffered the sharpest decline for the nine months ending 30 September, falling 32% to 338 compared with 498 shipments for the same period in 2002. Deliveries in the third quarter fell 5% from 123 to 117 aircraft.
Bombardier was hardest hit, with shipments in the first nine months falling 64% to 34 jets, compared with 84 aircraft a year ago. However, deliveries for the third quarter more than doubled over the previous three months, from seven to 16 aircraft, as the Canadian manufacturer works off the backlog imposed by its temporary production shutdown this year.
Cessna, which suspended its production lines this year, saw Citation business jet deliveries slump in the third quarter by 43%, to 42 aircraft, compared with 74 a year ago. Deliveries for the first nine months fell by 75 to 148 units.
The company expects year-end deliveries to top 195 aircraft, and expects to deliver 165-170 aircraft next year, as deliveries of the mid-size Sovereign begin. Cessna also added $365 million to its backlog in the third quarter by converting deposits on 175 entry-level Citation Mustangs to firm orders. The company has taken over 300 deposits on the Mustang since it was launched a year ago, and expects to have more than 200 orders in its backlog by year-end. Deliveries begin in 2006.
Gulfstream delivered 19 "green" aircraft in the third quarter, up from 17 a year ago, but its total of 53 aircraft to the end of September, down significantly from the 68 green aircraft delivered in the first nine months of last year.
The quarterly total included 14 large-cabin and five mid-size aircraft, and parent company General Dynamics (GD) says Gulfstream is on track to deliver 50 G300/G400/G500-series aircraft this year, and 53 in 2004.
Gulfstream has no unsold large-cabin aircraft, says GD, and has reduced its inventory of mid-size G100/G200s from 14 at the beginning of the year to five at the end of the third quarter. The manufacturer delivered 16 green mid-size aircraft in the first nine months compared with 21 a year earlier.
Turboprop shipments have levelled out with deliveries in the third quarter increasing to 64 aircraft from 59 in 2002. Overall deliveries by the 30 September fell by 4% to 163 compared with 170 aircraft for the first nine months of last year.
Overall deliveries of piston aircraft were virtually flat during the same timeframe, increasing from 1,099 to 1,101 aircraft, while third quarter shipments rose by 12% to 391 units.
Source: Flight International
