Business Jet Makers

Manufacturers and owners of privately owned jets are showing evidence of a rebound from a decade-long downturn in the sector. In 2008, the global credit crunch dampened consumer confidence in personal jets, and company reticence and reduced costs have kept the markets in check ever since. Increasing company earnings, a demand-increasing stimulus from the US fiscal reform and a sharp European upturn are now raising the industry's upside.

A weak US dollar now makes American planes less expensive abroad and attracts customers.

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Producers of crossover jethes rely on growth in the Middle East

There is a remarkable low level of cross-border cargo in the Middle East for a significant air transport growing area over the past 20 years.... Most of the singles developed for the 90-150-seater regional aviation markets are the smallest members of the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 family.

In order to appreciate the challenges of cross-over jet OEMs, the only ones currently in operation are two Embraer 195s at Royal Jordanian (which also has three of the smaller E175s). Tombardier's C-Series has 33 orders in the Middle East (45 if you include the 12 CS300s ordered by Egyptair). Embraer's 2017-36 prediction predicts that the Middle East fleets will increase from 80 to 220 planes.

Embraer Commercial Aviation VP of Regional Operations for the Middle East and Africa, Raul Villaron, is optimistic that the E2 product line will gain in importance. "However, these were operated in an inefficient manner, with large-volume narrow-body planes at low workloads. Whereas the Mitsubishi MRJ90 (currently under test ) and MRJ70 are at the lower end of the capacitance distribution, it is still possible that a straight model will move them towards the upper end.

"We see the Middle East as a region with potential to provide 70 to 90 seat air transport, by expanding our regionally based operation to further enhance an airline's networks and connections. The MRJ has been specially developed for this purpose," says Jorge Abando, Mitsubishi Airport Corp. VP of Sales and Marketing.

Meanwhile, in the Middle East, the company forecasts that "a combined fleet of 450 planes will be shipped in the 60- to 150-seat segments. Two hundred planes will be supplied in the large class of large local jet aircrafts, while 250 planes will be supplied in the small class of small individual aisles. In order to reach these numbers, cross-over jet originators in a part of the world where widebody is sometimes used for intra-regional service must alter the attitude of airlines in the Middle East.

Others have more in mind than operators. VILARON continues to take up the case for the use of cross-border jets in low-fare-carriages. "Among the many advantages of the cross-over jet is its versatility: the development of new low and medium penetration rates; the supply of important hub services; the ability to travel with peak and valley bottoms, whether every day, seasonally or economically, by adapting flight capacities to meet changing demands and providing high frequency services in high return markets," he stresses.