The coronavirus pandemic is turning more wealthy travelers towards private jets as they seek to take control of their travel. Rather than depend on charter operators, however, some with means are making the jump to outright aircraft ownership with the International Aircraft Dealers Association confirming to Business Insider that sales firms are seeing increased interest from first-time buyers.
Though still down from pre-pandemic levels, aircraft sales have done comparatively well since March while chartering declined by around 90% in April from normal, the IADA reported. The drop coincides with businesses imposing pandemic-related travel restrictions for employees and destinations imposing mandatory self-quarantines for new arrivals, as well as general concerns surrounding travel in the current era.
Jetcraft, one of the world's leading aircraft sales and acquisition firms, is responsible for over 20 transactions both completed or pending since the pandemic spread globally in March. In the Americas, Jetcraft saw customers largely choose large, long-range aircraft from the likes of Gulfstream, Bombardier, and Dassault while in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, light and mid-size aircraft from Cessna and Embraer were among those preferred.
Selling aircraft during a pandemic comes with its own challenges, especially when buyers cannot travel internationally to see their aircraft in person. While that's normally standard procedure, Jetcraft has had to bring the product directly to the customer in recent times while working around lockdowns when closing the deal.
Take a look at some of the most in-demand aircraft.