Report: Pre-Owned Aircraft Sales Up, But Asking Prices Down

November 7, 2011

Sales of pre-owned business jets increased by 11 percent through the first nine months of 2011, according to a monthly report published Octoberr 28, 2011, by JETNET LLC, a provider of industry data.

The company also said that average asking prices on business jets fell by 19.6 percent in the January-September period, more than erasing a modest uptick in prices reported just a month earlier. “Pre-owned business jet asking prices are more in line than they were 18 months ago, but the current reversal in average asking price is a big concern for the seller,” JETNET said in the report.

Asking prices for turboprops and turbine-powered aircraft also fell by 12.9 percent and 13.8 percent respectively, in the nine-month 2011 period.

All business aircraft for sale in all sectors were taking an average of more than 330 days to sell. The average number of days on the market rose for all sectors except business turboprops in September. However, inventories also declined for all sectors in a positive sign for the market going forward.

The information suggests that while the pre-owned business aircraft market has improved substantially from the depths of the recession two years ago, it has yet to post a significant turn. “All indicators have been slow to recover in the first nine months of 2011,” JETNET said in the report.

Information from the JETNET September 2011 Pre-Owned Market Report:

For-sale inventories continue to slowly decline (September 2011 compared to 2010)

• Business jet inventory for sale at 13.8% (down 1.3 points) from 15.1%
• Business turboprops for sale at 10.1% (down .6 points) from 10.7%
• Turbine helicopters for sale at 6.6% (down .4 points) from 7.0%
• Piston helicopters for sale at 6.4% (down .2 points) from 6.6%

Full-sale transactions show mixed results (YTD 2011 compared to 2010)

• Business jets (up 11.0%) showed double-digit percentage growth
• Business turboprops are down 0.9%
• Both turbine (down 11.6%) and piston helicopters (down 17.6%) show double-digit  

  declines

Average asking prices show mixed results

• Piston helicopters are up 5.6%
• Business jets (down 19.7%), business turboprops (down 12.9%) and turbine helicopters (down 13.8%) all show double-digit percentage decreases

Average days-on-the-market figures are at very high levels

• All market sectors are over 300 days average on the market before a sale
• All market sectors have increased the average days in September, except for business turboprops which took 25 fewer days