Press Release

Issued by Amstat.

October 24, 2016

According to AMSTAT, the first three quarters of 2016 saw a slightly lower percentage of the business jets and about the same percentage of business turboprops turning over as resale transactions versus the same period in 2015.

In the first three quarters of 2016, 7.1% of the global business jet fleet turned over. This percentage was down versus 7.4% in the same period in 2015. By comparison, 5.8% of the business turboprop fleet turned over versus 5.7% for the same period in 2015.

Resale Retail Transaction activity year to date was up for heavy jets with 5.9% of the fleet turning over in the first three quarters of the year, compared to 5.5% for the same period in 2015. In contrast, transaction activity for the medium jets resulted in 7.1% of the fleet turning over versus 8.2% for the same period in 2015. For light jets and turboprops, Resale Retail Transaction activity was largely flat for the first three quarters of the year compared to the same three quarter period in 2015 (7.8% versus 7.9% and 5.8% versus 5.7% respectively).

The report also shows that business aircraft inventory levels continue to climb but with some evidence of a recent plateauing in certain market segments. 10.8% of the heavy jet fleet is now for sale. This percentage is up from 10.4% at the start of 2016. Over the last 24 months more of this inventory has come from newer heavy jets, with 10% of that fleet for sale today versus 8% in 2015. Today 11.6% of the medium jets fleet is available for sale versus 11.2% at the start of the year. As with heavy jets, it is the newer medium jet models that are seeing their inventory increase the most. The light jet inventory is currently 11.8% of the active fleet. This up since the start of the year but flat compared to the same time last year. 8.5% of the turboprop fleet is for sale, up since the start of 2016 but down from 8.7% a year ago.

Average Asking Price trends have been a mixed bag so far in 2016. The Average Asking Price for a heavy jets is $13.9M down 6.6% year over year. The increase in heavy jet Resale Retail Transactions so far in 2016 has not been enough to raise Average Asking Prices. The Average Asking Price for a medium jet is $3.4M, down 7.8% from a year ago which is consistent with falling Resale Retail Transaction activity and increasing inventory in this market segment. The Average Asking Price for light jets is $1.7M up 6.7% versus a year ago and $1.4M for turboprops up 5.5% versus a year ago. These are curious trends given that transaction activity and inventory levels are essentially flat in these markets.