WWW.WINGSMAGAZINE.COM March/April 2015 | WINGS 35S
ince the near meltdown of the global financial system
in 2008, the economies of the G20 nations have strug-
gled to recover. Some countries have had greater suc-
cess than others in their quest for sustainable growth.
Not surprisingly, business aviation took a direct hit
when the financial storm broke six years ago. Corporations re-
acted by reducing the number of aircraft operated, deferring or
cancelling airplanes on order, and shuttering flight departments.
An effective way to gauge the damage inflicted on the indus-
try is to review the number of corporate jets that have been
produced during the past six years. To that end, Wings has as-
sembled data published by the General Aviation Manufacturers
Association of Washington, D.C. in the accompanying table. To
simplify the exercise, we’ve placed the types of aircraft pro-
duced into two categories: A – large cabin, and B – very light
jets (VLJ) through to Super Mid-Size (SMS).
The numbers show that not only has there been a significantdecline in the production of business jets after the crisis began,
but that there has also been a shift in interest towards the larger
more expensive models. During 2013, eight manufacturers pro-
duced 678 business jets. That represents a 40 per cent decline
from the 1,153 units built by nine OEMs in 2008. The number
of smaller cabin jets (VLJ-SMS) produced declined 60 per cent
from the 830 built in 2008 to the 342 made in 2013. The an-
nual output of large cabin jets actually increased four per cent
from 323 in 2008 to 336 in 2013. As a percentage of total units
built, large cabin aircraft have increased from 28 per cent to 50
per cent.
Through the first three quarters of 2014, the smaller jets were
making a small comeback – representing 53 per cent of the 460
jets built during the first nine months. Is the trend towards
larger business aircraft about to continue or reverse? That re-
mains to be determined.
Honeywell International released its “Global BusinessWHEN BIGGER
IS BETTER
NEXTGEN BIZJETS OFFER COMFORT, SPEED AND RANGE
BY FREDERICK K. LARKINThe new Dassault
Falcon 8X, introduced
in France in December,
will have a maximum
range of 6,450 NM.PHOTO: DASSAULT FALCON