GA aircraft sales steady

In an indication that the industry is slowly finding its legs after the global financial crisis, global GA aircraft sales have steadied in first quarter 2010.

The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) reports that in the first quarter of this year 390 GA aircraft were delivered globally. While that is still a 15 per cent drop from the same period last year, it is an improvement over the dramatic decline experienced in first quarter 2009 deliveries as compared to first quarter 2008.

Of those 390 aircraft, 283 were delivered in North America; 74 in Europe; 20 in South America; and 13 throughout the rest of the world. And for the record, by major manufacturers, Cessna delivered 80 aircraft, Cirrus 53, Diamond 35, Hawker Beechcraft 32, Piper 30, Pilatus 12, Socata seven, and Victoria-based Gippsland Aeronautics three.

Total industry billings grew by 7.1 per cent in the first three months of 2010 to US$4.64 billion due to international deliveries of large cabin, long-range aircraft where customers rely less on third party financing than the remainder of the industry. First quarter billings in 2010 were still 12.6 per cent below the same period in 2008.

"These numbers are being released on the heels of Europe's premier business aviation show, the European Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition, where many of our manufacturers noted that the market seems to be stabilising," GAMA President and CEO Pete Bunce said. "Reported flight activity from the FAA and EUROCONTROL is on an upward trend and the used aircraft inventory is slowly decreasing. However, these first quarter figures reveal that our industry is far from a recovery."

The piston airplane segment was down 7.3 per cent in the first quarter, with 166 aircraft delivered compared to 179 in first quarter 2009. The turboprop segment delivered 60 units, down from 89 units during the same period in 2009 for a 32.6 per cent decrease.  And business jet shipments fell 14.1 per cent in the first quarter with 164 aircraft delivered, as compared to 191 business jets in the first quarter of 2009.