Private Jets and Business Aircraft

The 2014 General Aviation Statistical Databook & 2015 Industry Outlook report was recently released. The annual report, compiled by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), includes details of new business jet sales in 2014. Last year saw a 6.5% increase from 2013's sales, with a total of 722 planes sold.

Among the most popular models sold by the manufacturers in the above table:

Bombardier:

  Challenger 300/350 – 54 sold

  Global 6000/Express – 80 sold

Embraer:

  Phenom 300 – 73 sold

Gulfstream:

  G300/350/400/450/500/550/650 – 117 sold

Textron Aviation

  Cessna Citation M2 – 46 sold

Worth noting in this year’s report:

• Eclipse re-entered the sales market in 2014. Their Eclipse 500 had proved popular in the very light jet market upon its introduction in 2006, but Eclipse Aviation declared bankruptcy in 2009. Eclipse Aerospace (now renamed ONE Aviation) bought the company’s assets and have brought the updated Eclipse 550 back to airplane buyers. It is the only twin-engine light jet priced below three million dollars and it only burns about 54 gallons an hour, so has low operating costs. More information about the Eclipse 500 in the charter market is available at this earlier article.
• Embraer’s Phenom 300 continues to grow in popularity as it has done since its introduction in 2009. Several fractional operators include this light jet in their fleets. This article covers the costs of ownership for the Phenom 300.
• As reported last year, large-cabin private aircraft remained popular, proving to be the top sellers for Gulfstream and Bombardier. Leasing options for these larger jets are covered here.
• In its second year of sales the Citation M2 achieved a very respectable 46 unit shipments. This light jet is competitively priced at slightly over $4m.

Additional highlights from the 2014 GAMA Statistical Databook include:

• Continuing the previous year’s growth, total airplane shipments showed another increase in 2014, with sales of 2,454 aircraft of all types. Total billings at $24.5 billion in 2014 surpassed 2013 for the second-highest billing number on record.
• The North American market share for business jets remained the largest, with 52.2% of the total sales. Europe came in second with a 19.5% market share.
• Turbo-prop sales declined slightly in both North America and Europe. However, the increased market share elsewhere, particularly in the Asia-Pacific market, made up for most of this. 603 turbo-props were shipped worldwide in 2014 compared to 645 in 2013. The top sellers were the Pilatus PC12 with 66 units, King Air 350 with 71 units and the Cessna Grand Caravan with 81 units.

Recent statements from manufacturers such as Bombardier suggest continued overall growth for the business jet market in 2015 and beyond. A summary of the 2013 market data is available here and the full 2014 databook is available on the GAMA website.