Wed, May 18, 2011
Natural Disasters, Political Unrest Could Have A Direct Impact
On Sales
Until the end of last year, the pre-owned business aircraft
industry expected sales to be driven by the Middle East and Asia.
In the view of Jean Sémiramoth, Chief Operating Officer of
the aviation financing company and consultant Altaïr, there
was no reason to think that this trend would change, until a the
earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan, and political
unrest in the Middle East region, affecting countries including
Bahrain, Syria, Yemen, Egypt, Libya, Jordan, Algeria and
Tunisia.
The sudden and serious changes in these regions make the future
for these areas uncertain and market updates, forecasts and
predictions for the aviation industry very difficult to make with
any accuracy. That said, Sémiramoth says it is likely that
every sector of the aviation industry will be affected to some
degree or another, but at this stage it is too soon to be able to
predict the extent of these effects or how long they will be felt
for.
Following the disasters in Japan, several sources told Altair
that they have had to turn down transactions and this trend is
expected to continue as the country deals with the aftermath of the
earthquake and tsunami. In North Africa and the Middle East we are
seeing many projects being postponed across all aircraft types;
including the large business jets and the bizliners.
Furthermore, Sémiramoth says, one can expect that
some owners and operators in the region will start selling off
their aircraft. China, on the other hand, is booming with a strong
economy and finance available. But even this bastion of light for
the industry is not necessarily all good news for the pre-owned
sector as laws within the country make it very difficult to import
second hand aircraft. So the market in China is almost exclusively
focused on new aircraft.
The upper segment of the business jet market is made up of large
business jets such as the likes of Bombardier Global Express, the
Gulfstream and the Dassault Falcon. Above even this category is the
bizliners from Boeing and Airbus. To date, Sémiramoth says,
the market for the latter has predominantly been the Middle East.
He says all that can be done now is wait to see what effect the
unrest in this region will have on the manufacturers of these types
of jets, but there will certainly be some challenges in the region
as the year progresses.
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