Bizjet Market Stabilizes in Asia-Pacific, Says Hong Kong Firm

The business jet and helicopter markets in the Asia-Pacific region appear to have stabilized, according to Hong Kong business aviation consulting firm Asian Sky Group’s (ASG) latest quarterly report. “From the data and analysis ASG has done, it appears the business jet market in the Asia-Pacific region has finally bottomed out,” said ASG managing director Jeffrey Lowe. “There are a number of indicators that—taken as a whole—represent the stabilization of the market we’ve all been hoping for.”

Lowe added, “The percentage of the fleet for sale in the Asia-Pacific region has topped out at around 12 percent and held steady for the last 12 to 15 months. Likewise, average asking prices have bottomed out at approximately $22 million and held steady for the last four to six months. So, the market trend, which we saw start to change in April of last year, has now balanced out. We even see a convergence with the signal line indicating sustainability.”

These positive signs are further supported by the results from ASG’s mood and intentions survey results in the report. “Optimism has been growing since the third quarter of 2016 across all regions and reached its highest level this quarter. Aircraft utilization is increasing as well. The industry as a whole in the Asia-Pacific region is generally feeling better about its future,” Lowe said.

However, the business jet market is still “decidedly" a buyer’s market, but with a stable market and growing optimism ASG expects sellers to be firmer with their pricing positions going forward.

Any expectations for an “immediate and significant increase” in sales activity have not materialized in the data yet, ASG said. The average number of days on market for an aircraft in the Asia-Pacific region continues to grow, and purchase intention uncertainty remains high, the report noted. ASG forecasts that this will change over the second half of this year as more buyers finally enter the market.