Record Year for Private Jet Deliveries by Doug Gollan, Elite Traveler
Mass market auto makers have been reeling on falling sales, but for those who sell the chariots of the Super Rich -- private jets -- 2007 was another record year. Deliveries of private jets hit a new high last year, supported by increasing demand in global markets, with over half of deliveries outside the United States for the first time ever. Interesting, nearly 40 percent of Elite Traveler's circulation is now outside the U.S. and in over 100 countries!
Jet makers - led by Canada's Bombardier, the US's Gulfstream, Cessna and Hawker Beechcraft and Dassault of France - delivered more than 1,000 jets for the first time. With large order backlogs at most manufacturers and waiting lists of two to three years for the most sought-after jets, deliveries are forecast to remain high this year, according to numerous reports.
Private aviation has enjoyed an unprecedented boom in the past three years, as executives and rich individuals have sought to avoid the hassle, inconvenience and delays of flying through congested hub airports and to use business jets to increase executive productivity.
The General Aviation Manufacturers Association said worldwide business jet deliveries had risen 28.4 percent from 886 in 2006 to a record 1,138 last year. Alan Klapmeier, chairman of Gama, said "a strong worldwide market was a driving factor for general aviation in 2007".
He said manufacturer backlogs were "strong and we think this bodes well for 2008 and the years beyond".
The latest forecast by Honeywell Aerospace, a leading supplier to the sector, projects that business jet deliveries will rise to more than 1,300 in 2008. Bombardier was the leading maker of business jets measured by the value of deliveries, while Cessna, a subsidiary of Textron, which dominates the segments for light and mid-sized jets, delivered the highest number of executive jets.
Demand is being stimulated by a surge in product development, and last year marked the first deliveries of significant numbers of very light jets, an emerging segment. Eclipse Aviation delivered 98 of its Eclipse 500 VLJs last year, while Cessna delivered 45 of its entry level Citation Mustangs. Embraer of Brazil is due to start deliveries of its four-seat Phenom 100 very light jets in the summer.
At the other end of the market, Aerion, the US advanced engineering group, is seeking to reintroduce commercial supersonic flight. Last year it said that it had secured its first letters of intent from potential customers for about 20 of its planned supersonic business jets.
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