Freestream Aircraft, President and CEO, Alireza Ittihadieh told CJI Global 2020 delegates he is witnessing a large swathe of newcomers and new market-makers arriving into business aviation post-Covid. Whether this will be positive for business aviation, Ittihadieh noted it is too early to tell if newcomers will compensate for those that have left.
Ittihadieh said: “In the Americas I am seeing a tremendous amount of demand for midsize aircraft, all we hear is $4 – $6 million aircraft which eliminates long range cabins. What I am seeing is an audience which has the capability and ability to buy an aircraft and hasn’t done so, starting in the charter market.” According to Ittihadieh, that audience has been converted to potential buyers.
Running in parallel there is another audience who are seeing opportunities to sell their midsize aircraft and upgrade to a larger cabin. Finally, Ittihadieh sees a third audience in the larger cabins who are realising they will not be flying as regularly, so are reducing size. For example, a Gulfstream down to a Falcon or Bombardier.
“I just don’t see how that is going to change any time soon,” said Ittihadieh, “There’s a lot of moving parts, there’s a lot of talk but I’ve only seen a few people who are acting. We have also seen a lot of corporates reducing the size of their fleet.”
