Online aircraft marketplace GlobalAir (Booth 1927) has seen historic activity regarding its preowned aircraft listings over the past several months. The company noted that September’s 2,276 inquiries trail only February’s 2,283 inquiries for the most in the company’s 26-year history. September inquiries are up by 45 percent year-over-year, and the number of visitors to the site grew by nearly 17 percent. Through the first nine months of the year, the website has experienced a 13.5 percent increase over its 2020 numbers.
The ramped-up activity comes at a time when the industry is experiencing a record low inventory of preowned aircraft based on a variety of factors. Hunter Weiss, president of private aircraft brokerage Welsch Aviation, said a number of factors are colliding to create a "perfect storm" that has served to tighten the supply of available aircraft: the slowdown in new aircraft production as a result of Covid; the desire of people of means to fly privately that has caused a surge in charter operations; privately-operated entry-level aircraft purchases; and interruption in the availability of used aircraft from Canada and Western Europe due to the pandemic.
As an example, GlobalAir cited Giovanni Luciolli, a Monaco aircraft broker, who described the recent sale of a Falcon 900EX from Manilla to a buyer in Texas on virtually nothing but a Zoom call. Luciolli explained that aircraft listings are receiving offers within a day of posting, and described the aircraft market as dry. “There’s nothing left,” he said.
“Despite the reduction of the number of airplanes out there being sold since the pandemic, this shows that demand is still roaring when it comes to people looking to buy aircraft,” said GlobalAir president and CEO Jeff Carrithers. “It also underlines what we’ve been seeing all year, in that more people are turning to us, not only when it comes to selling airplanes but the many online services we offer to supply the aviation community.”
