Now that the Avinode team is back in the office at full speed after last week’s S&D show in San Diego we decided that it was a good time to take a first look at US business jet market 2012. At the trade show there seems to have been a general consensus that 2012 has started off somewhat slower than expected. In response to this we have decided to do a comparison of US business jet flights during the first 22 days of the year 2012 compared to the 3 previous years (2009-2011).
Taking a quick look at the numbers, the start of the year has been somewhat slower than 2011, it’s basically on track in comparison to 2010 and high above 2009. During the first 22 days of 2012, 99,981 business jet departures were recorded. This is 6.2% below the figures recorded during the same period last year, 0.9% above 2010 figures and 15.5% above 2009 figures.
Breaking it down by aircraft category, the general trend is consistent across the board apart for the Entry Level Jet (ELJ) Category, which has seen a stable increase in number of flights over the past 3 years. The number of ELJ departures in 2009 was 5532 compared to 8688 in 2012.
The increase in the number of ELJ flights may partially be explained by the fact that this is a relatively new aircraft category, which continues to grow with each new aircraft delivery, but it could also be a sign of a market driven by more price conscious consumers, who would still like to utilize business jets but are now opting for a more economical solution.
Ultra Long Range Aircraft have taken the biggest hit in the early January numbers, with departures decreasing 18.5% compared to the first 22 days in 2011.
Even though the numbers show a decrease in total number of US business jet departures it is still way too early to tell which direction the industry is going to head in 2012. Remember that we are still above 2010 figures and far above the 2009 crisis numbers so no need to worry yet.
