Breakdown Shows 657 Large, Long-Range Private Jets in Latin America

Airbus Corporate Jets completed an industry survey this month, checking in on the population of large private jet operations in an effort to identify new trends and growing markets in the Americas.

Airbus Corporate Jets is the arm that makes giant dream aircraft for those thumbing through brochures of other bizjet brands, taking garden-variety Airbus passenger aircraft and replacing the cattle car seating with plush living quarters and charter accouterments. It’s a thing of beauty… and unbelievable expense to see a narrowbody airliner in private jet guise, but there are still buyers for them around the world. Hence the study, since it would help Airbus identify exactly where to find people who could afford the costs of an ACJ in the Western hemisphere. In the end, they found just about the same numbers one would expect overall, with some surprises in store in terms of market share for large jets. The overall breakdown showed that the biggest markets for large private jets is North America at 60%, followed by Europe at 13%, and then Latin America and the Caribbean at 7% of the world’s big-jet fleet.

Breaking it down further in Latin America shows that the largest fleet category is no surprise: Light private jets are king (1,413 planes), followed by midsize jets (808 planes), followed by large or ultra-long-range jet aircraft (657 planes). The very last straggler is the very light jets, with less than 100 in operation throughout LATAM and the Caribbean. The biggest market for Airbus’ Corporate wares is Mexico, with 249 large jets in operation, and only 7.6% of them for sale. Next up is Brazil, with 217 in their national fleet, with 6% of them for sale. Trailing them is Argentina, with 35 big jets and less than 3% for sale. From there, Venezuela has 24 jets in operation there, and Puerto Rico with 20, and none for sale in either country.

This is good news for Airbus Corporate Jets, since it means there aren’t too many big planes to compete with their ultra-luxe offerings. Those who can afford the buy-in of a narrowbody Airbus get a lot of benefits, even beyond the spacious interior. Airbus aircraft support is everywhere, there’s infrastructure to support them everywhere on Earth… and when their ‘base model’ can pull off half a day’s cruise for 5,650 nautical miles, that seems pretty handy.

“Latin America continues to be a powerful player in global business aviation,” says Chadi Saade, President of Airbus Corporate Jets., “As more private jet owners in Latin America look to sell their aircraft and upgrade to larger more efficient jets, ACJ stands out with exceptional comfort, performance and long-term value. Our ACJ TwoTwenty is purpose-built for buyers seeking both economic and operational excellence in the large jet category.”

FMI: www.acj.airbus.com