Story ID: 
Pre-owned Business Jet Sales Picture Improved
By: Matt Thurber
Caption: AircraftPost.com has added two new data points to its online information system for the medium through long-range business jet market.
Word Count: 188
AircraftPost.com has added two new data points to its online information system for the medium through long-range business jet market. The new absorption rate and market price data points “will assist owners in determining whether they should bring their aircraft on the market,” said president Dennis Rousseau, “knowing beforehand how much it will bring and how long it will take to sell.” In a report on the first quarter of 2010, AircraftPost.com noted that transactions for the jets it covers climbed 23 percent compared with the first quarter of last year. While that is good news, 2010 versus 2008 first-quarter transactions dropped 25 percent. The absorption rate–the time needed to sell current inventory based on recent sales activity–averaged 30 months at the end of March, Rousseau noted. Corporate aviation information provider JetNet released its first-quarter figures, which show that pre-owned business jet inventory levels are dropping, now down to 15.6 percent from 17.7 percent last July. In the first quarter this year, a record low 555 aircraft were sold, 40 fewer than the first quarter of 2009. JetNet’s number for average time on market for pre-owned business aircraft is now 10.7 months.