Deliveries of business jets in 2007 will reach a record high for the fourth year in a row. More than 1,000 business jets are forecast to be delivered by the end of the current year, up from 861 in 2006. But this year's record will be topped as well in 2008, when some 1,300 business jets are expected to be delivered.A Reuters news agency report about the recent upsurge in private jet sales cites a forecast by Honeywell International, "derived from interviews with 1,400 flight departments at companies around the world, mixed with information from plane makers and an assessment of general economic conditions." Honeywell sells cockpit electronics, engines and power units for business jets, so the company has a need to keep a finger on the pulse of the market for these aircraft.
An article about the Honeywell forecast in London's Financial Times notes that while the number of executive jets purchased in the United States has declined a little, demand in many other parts of the world has increased. Quoting the Honeywell report, the Financial Times article says, "International buyers now account for about 50 per cent of the new aircraft deliveries projected over the next five years."
The aerospace companies that stand to benefit most from the surge in business jet sales include Canada's Bombardier and France's Dassault Aviation, as well as US-based companies such as Gulfstream, Cessna, and Hawker Beechcraft.
All of this is very good news for crews around the world who fly these types of aircraft.
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