Business Jet Fleet Report YE2020

EDITOR’S NOTE
On the surface,
1.8% of something
does not seem like
much. But as with most
things, if you were to just
look at a number without
context, that number could
mean anything. Take your
mind back to this time
last year; the COVID-19
pandemic was in the early
stages of its seemingly
unstoppable march across
the globe. We had already seen China shut itself down,
Taiwan and Hong Kong followed shortly afterwards. Flash
forward six months, and the majority of the world had closed
its borders in an attempt to keep the coronavirus out.
Given this context, 1.8% growth in the Asia-Pacific business
jet fleet in 2020 is a remarkable achievement which caught
many people, us included, a little off guard. Even as we
started 2021 with fresh hope that the pandemic would soon
subside, many thought that we would see a contraction in the
Asia-Pacific fleet. In fact, our own prediction in our 2019 fleet
report was that the fleet would contract by 0.5%. Yet 2020
beat that prediction. And that was without knowing the full
extent of what was yet to come with the pandemic.
So how did it happen? It was largely due to the return of
growth in Greater China. When combined, Greater China,
including mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan,
had a net addition of 14 aircraft in 2020. Compare that to a
year earlier, when the combined Greater China fleet saw a
net decline of 16 aircraft, and you can see why Asia-Pacific’s
fleet growth took us all by surprise. Part of that reason is
that China is big, really big, and as we have seen all over the
world, domestic flight activity has returned, and in a big way.
That increase in domestic flight activity is partly being driven
by new entrants – people that have never flown privately
before, but can now see the health and safety benefits, not
only in the air, but also on the ground by being able to avoid
crowded airport terminals and lounges. Operators across the
region have all told us that they have seen a big increase in
the number of enquiries they are seeing from new entrants.
Management companies have told us similar stories,
although this time it is from first time buyers – people that
have never owned a jet before.
Unfortunately, for now at least, the pandemic is still wreaking
havoc around the world, with many countries still effectively
closed, or having strict quarantine procedures in place that
deter all but the most determined of visitors. Whilst the
pace of vaccinations has increased in several parts of the
world, in others it has yet to begin. The hope is that vaccine
passports will be introduced and allow people to travel more
freely between different countries, but speaking from my own
personal experience of having been denied boarding a flight
from Cairo twice within the space of a single week, even with
the correct paperwork in place, things will not run as smoothly
as they once did for a long time to come.
This edition of the Business Jet Fleet Report is being
published a little later than normal. You may have seen our
CEO Jeffrey C. Lowe’s short video explaining why, but in case
you did not, the answer is on the front cover – The Falcon
10X. Inside this edition you can read all about the biggest
Falcon to date, in an article written by Dassault themselves.
Elsewhere, alongside the usual market analysis and trends,
you will find articles on, and interviews with, Sino Jet, Metrojet,
Aerion, Gulfstream, JSSI, and IADA.
Special features include a look at how COVID-19 has affected
the industry, as well as a feature on the future of onboard
connectivity.
As always, we would like to take this opportunity to thank
everybody that has contributed to the report, as well as its
sponsors.
Sincerely,
Alud Davies
Media & Communications Director, Asian Sky Group
2 ASIA-PACIFIC BUSINESS JET FLEET REPORT – YEAR END 2020