First quarter business jet deliveries slip 5%

Business jet deliveries for the first quarter of 2016 were 4.7% lower than the same period in 2015, according to the latest General Aviation Manufacturing Association (GAMA) data.

The GAMA data excludes deliveries by French manufacturer Dassault, who report shipments on a six month basis, rather than quarterly.

Although a 4.7% decline sounds dramatic, the dip represents a difference of just six aircraft between years.

Since the first quarter of 2015 two new aircraft types saw their initial batch of deliveries, although between them they could only add a combined 10 aircraft to the quarters total. Of these, the Citation Latitude chalked up the most shipments with seven aircraft leaving the factory, whilst the HondaJet added a further three.

The biggest drop in deliveries was for the LearJet 70/75 where eight less aircraft were delivered in the light jet category, and at Gulfstream where six less large cabin aircraft were handed over to new owners.

Although Gulfstream don’t break out deliveries to individual models, it was a slowdown in G450 deliveries that caused the dip in deliveries.

Aside from the initial batch of Latitude deliveries, the other bright spot was with deliveries of Embraer’s Legacy 650.

Having shipped no aircraft at all in the first quarter of 2015 the aircraft bounced back and saw a total of six aircraft delivered in the first quarter of 2016.

“The entire industry is feeling the impact of retrenchment in the energy sector as well as global geopolitical and economic insecurity,” GAMA president and chief executive Pete Bunce said. “Despite these headwinds, our industry continues to invest in research, development, and certification of more efficient and safe products. Therefore, actions taken by elected officials to stimulate R&D and improve regulator efficiency have a far-reaching impact on the economy.”