UK-based aircraft brokerage and consultancy Moon Jet Group (MJG) said 2022 was a record year for aircraft transactions and hopes to more than double it in 2023. This year, MJG completed 21 aircraft sales transactions.
“If we can beat 2022’s achievement, we will be very happy,” company founder and managing director James Moon told AIN. Moon, a pilot who founded the company in 2015, has established relationships with more than 600 private aircraft owners worldwide, working on aircraft transactions from light jets to Boeing Business Jets. His company also provides aircraft type and fleet advisory solutions to aircraft operators and regional airlines.
Moon said the 2023 outlook is good but expects "aircraft values to soften and the current inflated asking prices to reduce slightly to a more normal level of pricing." He added, "The biggest trend that I am seeing right now is the seasoned aircraft owners that have sat on the sidelines while the aircraft market was white hot. If aircraft values and asking prices drop next year as expected, that is when they will make their moves and I am working with a lot of clients like that right now.”
Moon said he has 24 qualified buyers waiting to snap up used Bombardier Learjet 60XRs, while noting that models such as the Gulfstream G450 and G550, Falcon 7X, Cessna Citation CJs and X, and Embraer Phenoms are in strong demand. He said his buyer mix is 60 percent corporate and 40 percent individual, with about 40 percent of customers placing their aircraft on leaseback and 30 percent of customers investing in cabin upgrades upon acquiring aircraft.