Business jet deliveries are up for now
Bahrain Government Gulfstream G650 A9C-BAH arrives at Farnborough on delivery (Photo: Bob Holland)
Bahrain Government Gulfstream G650 A9C-BAH arrives at Farnborough on delivery (Photo: Bob Holland)
It’s a generally accepted fact that global GDP growth of 4 per cent is needed to sustain growth in business aviation.
Last year’s global GDP growth stuck at 3.01 per cent and with the IMF forecasting a further 3.59 per cent for the year, this week’s half year business aircraft shipment results were eagerly awaited.
Viewed as a barometer at the half way point during the year for the state of the industry, data is collated and then disseminated by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA).
Through the first half of the year, there were 318 business jet deliveries, an uptick of 12.4 per cent over the first half of 2013.
The back end of the year is traditionally when more aircraft are delivered, so should we start celebrating the return of the good times?
Maybe not just yet, or at least not if the data is viewed without context.
There were, of course, many encouraging signs. Deliveries were up at Textron’s Cessna division and Eclipse started delivering aircraft again.
But both the increases at Cessna and Eclipse can largely be viewed as the new aircraft effect, where newly certificated aircraft begin their initial delivery pushes. It should also be noted that without the new aircraft, deliveries would have, in fact, been down.
As initial pushes slow down, so will the growth. And with only one major programme set to begin deliveries in the second half of the year, we estimate the year end growth figures to be back down to single figures.
