Despite a softening U.S. economy and soaring fuel prices, demand for business jets and turboprops remains strong, according to the latest delivery report from the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA). The trade association announced a record-setting first half of the year, with total industry shipments (including the slumping piston segment) rising by 1.6 percent and billings increasing nearly 25 percent over the same period last year, totaling more than $12 billion. “Expanding worldwide markets are having a positive effect on the turbine segments of our industry,” said Pete Bunce, GAMA’s president and CEO.
Leading the charge was the business jet category, where deliveries rose nearly 40 percent over the same period last year, for a record 663 aircraft. The sector was buoyed by Eclipse Aviation, which despite delays in reaching its predicted full production levels delivered 112 EA-500 VLJs during the first half of the year. This placed newcomer Eclipse comfortably in the lead for deliveries of one model, but old hands such as Cessna delivered more airplanes in total. Nearly every single jet airframer experienced a double-digit increase in output. Cessna saw its first-half tally rise from 163 aircraft last year to 213 so far this year, spurred in part by its boosting Citation Mustang VLJ production from 10 to 34 aircraft, while Bombardier doubled Learjet 60 output to 16 aircraft in the first half of this year.
