Used Business Jet Prices

brokers said that clients were also China based businesses who bought such jetliners to help expand abroad and opted for used airplanes to keep cost down. The prices for used aircrafts have also fallen sharply in the last two years, they said. "Clients have evolved, their business expertise has evolved and they now appreciate the value of a used aircraft," said Jeffrey Lowe, CEO of Asian Sky Media, on the fringes of the Asian Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition in Shanghai this past weekend.

Plan manufacturers such as General Dynamics Corp's (GD.N) Gulfstream and Bombardier Inc (BBDb.TO) have cut back output in recent years as industry demands have shrunk and they have been working to release new aircraft resulting in longer waits for purchasers. "Our business jet brokers have grown," said David Dixon, Jetcraft Asia business jet brokers chairman.

However, industrial leaders said that this move was not detrimental to aircraft manufacturers such as Gulfstream and Bombardier as it helped to stabilise prices by cutting an excess supply of used business aircraft on the world scene. Gulfstream presented its latest generation 500 and 600 jet aircraft at the show, while Bombardier presented a model of its forthcoming long haul aircraft G7000.

Gulfstream, which competes with Bombardier for most of the Asia-Pacific personal jet population, expressed confidence in the aircraft and stressed that the increasing sophistication of the region's purchasers was a plus for the US planner. "There is a realisation that these aircraft are really being used for business, they are business tools," said Scott Neal, senior vice president of worldwide sales at Gulfstream.