The number of pre-owned business jets on the market has reached the lowest level since records began in the 1980s, with 4.65% of the world’s fleet up for sale, according to a survey of jet brokers and research companies. 

In all, about 1,134 used jets are available, compared to 1,839 in June 2020, a decline of 38%. Multiple buyers and a shrinking inventory of available aircraft have made for a competitive market. 

“We recently tried to purchase a late-model Challenger 650 for a client, and at least six offers were made for this aircraft, which ended up trading close to its headline asking price,” a major industry broker says. “To say that the market is competitive at the moment is an understatement.”

The decline in inventory has been led by the U.S., which reopened faster than other parts of the world, he says, spurred by a desire to travel in an environment with a lower risk for COVID-19 transmission and a drop in airline service, bringing a large number of first-time buyers into the market. In addition, as inventory declined rapidly, aircraft owners are often holding onto their current aircraft as they struggle to find a replacement, further decreasing aircraft coming available for sale.

At the same time, a surging stock market and real estate market, historically “cheap debt due to government stimulus” and depreciation benefits on private jet purchases have removed many of the financial pressures some owners may have been under to sell their aircraft under more normal circumstances. It is also encouraging new buyers to act. 

Molly McMillin
Molly McMillin, a 25-year aviation journalist, is managing editor of business aviation for the Aviation Week Network and editor-in-chief of The Weekly of Business Aviation, an Aviation Week market intelligence report

The pre-owned business aircraft market saw a 7% increase in sales volume in Q1 2021 over Q1 2020, while Ask Prices were down nearly 6%, reports the Asset Insight Market Report. Overall demand remained unchanged over Q4 2020, but increased nearly 44% compared to Q1 2020. The Market Report covers 134 fixed-wing models and 1,661 aircraft listed for sale.

In Q1 2021, higher quality, newer aircraft were the ones primarily selling, leaving the older aircraft with lower quality ratings in the for-sale pool, resulting in the inventory fleet posting its worst ETP Ratio (Maintenance Exposure to Ask Price Ratio) on record, 74.4%. Aircraft with an ETP ratio of 40% or higher were listed for sale 69% longer than aircraft with lower ETP ratios. Maintenance Exposure (an aircraft's accrued/embedded maintenance cost) increased for all jet market segments compared to Q1 2020, while Exposure for Turboprops decreased year-over-year.

"Across all segments, the pre-owned aircraft market was robust and active in Q1 2021," said Tony Kioussis, president for Asset Insight, LLC. "Buyers snapped up late model, higher quality aircraft at an impressive rate. Owners with aircraft carrying higher Maintenance Exposure should expect to spend over 6-months more on the market than younger aircraft with less pending maintenance."

On balance, Ask Prices were down across all market segments during Q1, year-over-year. During Q1 2021, Mid-size jets and turboprops increased prices, while Large and Light Jets saw decreases.

U.S. business aviation traffic is up 11% so far in March compared to a year ago, following a 5% decline in January and February, according to WingX Advance data.

Global business jet activity is down just 2% for the month to date.

Business aviation accounts for 19% of all fixed wing activity so far in 2021, compared to 12% for the same period in 2020, WingX says.

In the U.S., recovery is spurred by demand driven by 12 states that are unlocking travel restrictions.

Half of the 15,000 sectors flown from those states in March, for example, have been out of Texas, with demand rebounding after the “big freeze” weather event in February.

Activity in Europe is improving in March after a 26% drop in January and February. But in the UK, flights are down 50%.

“Business aviation in the U.S. is remarkably buoyant, with clear growth on the prepandemic in 2020,” said Richard Koe, WingX Advance managing director. “Florida joined by a host of other unlocked states in seeing a sharp rebound in travel demand. Activity in Europe is getting closer to normal, with trends also starting to reflect comparison with the slowdown prelockdown in March 2020. In Asia, especially in China, flight activity is already reflecting the recovery from the lockdown in progress a year ago.”