Report: Bizjet Market Strengthens in Q3

The business jet market further strengthened in the third quarter with OEM backlogs, departures, and preowned transaction volume all increasing year over year (YOY), while for-sale aircraft inventory stabilized, according to the Global Jet Capital (GJC)'s recently released Business Aviation Market Brief.

In the report, the financier notes that the market was on “solid footing” with strong fundamentals in the quarter. “These trends underscored the market’s stability and set the stage for continued momentum throughout the remainder of the year,” GJC said.

Broadly, global economic growth slowed to 2.7% in the third quarter, down from the 3% average in the first half. But the quarter was stronger than anticipated, and consumer spending and business investments proved resilient, all of which have led economists to up their estimates of future growth.

In tandem, business jet departures climbed 5.1% YOY in the third quarter and are up 3.2% in the first nine months. Business jet backlogs swelled by 12.1% in the quarter, reaching $51.1 billion, and now stretch 18 to 24 months for most models.

Preowned sales activity recovered from the softness in the second quarter and increased 16.3% YOY in the third quarter. Aircraft availability inched down slightly from 7.8% of the fleet in third-quarter 2024 to 7.6% in the most recent quarter. Newer aircraft values rose 0.2%, but older aircraft values slid by 3.7%.