Colibri Aircraft’s analysis of AMSTAT data reveals that only around 4.65% of the pre-owned jet fleet is for sale, which the company notes is the lowest level since records began in the 1980s.
The company found that around 1,134 private jets are for sale globally, compared to approximately 1,839 in June 2020, a decline of more than 38%. Colibri Aircraft specialises in the marketing, resale and purchase of pre-owned private aircraft.
“Buying private jets is extremely difficult right now, particularly for European compliant aircraft,” said Oliver Stone, managing director at Colibri Aircraft. “Multiple buyers and a shrinking inventory of available aircraft have made a very 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. To say that the market is competitive at the moment is an understatement.”
Commenting on the reasons behind the decline in the supply of private jets, Stone said: “This decline has been led by the USA, which re-opened far quicker than other parts of the world. Key factors driving the dramatic drop in the supply of private jets for sale were a strong desire to travel in an environment with far lower risk of Covid transmission – there are as many as 680 fewer person-to-person interactions when flying by private jet compared to commercial – and a significantly reduced airline service making airlines less convenient, which meant that more owners of private jets wanted to keep hold of their aircraft and a large number of first-time buyers entered the market.”
“In addition to this, surging asset prices in stock markets and real estate, historically cheap debt due to government stimulus, and depreciation benefits that applied to private jet purchases, removed many of the financial pressures some owners might have been under to sell their aircraft in more normal circumstances and also encouraged new buyers to act,” Stone continued. “Finally, as inventory declined so rapidly we found that current owners are often holding onto their current aircraft as they struggle to find a suitable replacement in such a supply-constrained environment, further decreasing the aircraft that are coming available for sale.”
