On the eve of last month’s NBAA convention, engine and avionics manufacturer Honeywell released its 18th annual 10-year market forecast, projecting a serious near-term dip in business jet deliveries but a gradual climb back to the heights reached during last year’s production peak.
Despite the more than year-long downturn in usage and the
scaling back of flight departments, the engine and avionics manufacturer sees signs of optimism and is predicting an uptick in worldwide demand starting in 2011. “The biggest thing is that as we look at five-year purchase plans for new aircraft, purchase expectation has increased to 40 percent, meaning 40 percent of existing fleet operators indicate they are going to buy a new or replacement or addition to their fleet in the next five years,” said Rob Wilson, Honeywell’s president for business and general aviation. “It’s tempered by the fact that the people cited their intention to purchase more in the latter part of that five-year horizon. It says people have a positive view, but the positive view is more long term in that five-year view, and that there’s still a strong robust demand for business aviation.”
