News and Insights
Ionic Insights: The Correlation Between Wealth and Business Jet Ownership in Africa
Following publication of the recent annual Africa Wealth Report by Henley & Partners and New World Wealth, which ranks the continent’s cities by the number of resident millionaires (high-net-worth individuals/HNWIs), we investigated whether there was a correlation between that wealth and the number of business jets based in the five wealthiest cities in Africa.
In descending order, the top five cities are ranked as follows:
Figure 1: Johannesburg is Africa’s wealthiest city by number of HNWIs. It is also home to the largest number of business jets (70).
Figure 2: Whilst it ranks second, Cape Town has a relatively small installed base of 12 business jets.
Figure 3: Cairo is home to more dollar billionaires than any other African city.
Figure 4: 75% of Nairobi’s 13-strong business jet fleet is manufactured by Cessna-Textron.
Figure 5: Lagos is the most populous city in Africa and boasts the highest concentration of business jet aircraft - one jet for every 68 HNWIs.
Ionic Insights: The Business Jet Fleet in the Baltic States
Welcome to this year’s final edition of Ionic Insights, in which we focus on the business jet fleet within the Baltic States.
We analyse the size, composition and age of the installed fleet, whilst simultaneously investigating the most numerous OEMs, aircraft types and registries.
Background
The group of countries commonly known as the Baltic States includes Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. All three countries are members of Nato and the European Union.
With a combined population of approximately 6 million persons, land area totalling over 67,000 square miles and a combined GDP of €150 billion, these comparatively small nations boast a similarly small number of business jet aircraft; the vast majority being based in the capital cities of Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius.
Other than Estonia, which remains an important producer of oil shale, the Baltic States are not overly rich in natural resources. Agriculture remains important to all three economies; as does industry, particularly the production of foodstuffs, textiles, electronics, machinery and fabricated metals.
Fleet Analysis
The three Baltic States possess a combined business jet fleet totalling thirty-seven aircraft.
Latvia, with eighteen aircraft, is alone home to almost 50% of that fleet. Within Latvia, Embraer is the largest single manufacturer, with the large cabin Legacy 600/650 models being the most popular.
Estonia has the smallest fleet, with only nine aircraft.
The largest operator in the Baltics is Riga, Latvia-based Union Aviation which operates eight large Embraer aircraft, a pair of Bombardier Globals and a Gulfstream G450.
See the following slide for a detailed breakdown of our analysis:
Source: AMSTAT, October 2024.
Ionic Insights: The Business Jet Fleet in North Africa
Welcome to the latest edition of Ionic Insights in which we focus on the business jet fleet in North Africa; specifically Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya and Egypt.
We analyse the size, composition and age of the installed fleet, whilst simultaneously investigating the most numerous OEMs, aircraft types and registries.
Analysis
With a population of 37 million and GDP totalling $145 billion, Morocco dominates the business jet fleet in North Africa; nearly fifty percent of all aircraft are based there.
Egypt, with a population in excess of 100 million, North Africa’s largest economy (2024 estimate: $395 billion) and the continent’s twelfth largest land mass, is second, with a total of sixteen aircraft. This fleet is comparatively young, though, with an average age of only fifteen years.
The smallest fleets are in Tunisia and Algeria (Africa’s largest country by land mass) with only three and five aircraft respectively. Tunisia’s modest fleet has the highest average age of 30 years.
Midsize/Super-midsize jets dominate and make up approximately four out of every ten aircraft across the region. Textron/Cessna is the largest OEM by fleet size (alone making up over forty-five percent of the installed fleet); with the Citation XLS/XLS+, Sovereign and Mustang being the most popular models.
Opportunities for Financing
North Africa remains a challenging region in which to finance business aircraft.
Aged fleets, security considerations, political nepotism, poor corruption perception rankings, and the limited availability of wholly independent, third-party aircraft management companies means that the willingness of international asset-based financiers to lend into the region remains limited but not unheard of.
Saying that, though, UHNW buyers, with substantive international footprints, are able to access finance via existing or new private wealth relationships with a number of predominantly European banks.
See the following slide for a detailed breakdown of our analysis:
Source: AMSTAT, September 2024.
Ionic Insights: The Business Jet Fleet in Japan
Welcome to the latest edition of Ionic Insights in which we focus on the business jet fleet in Japan.
We analyse the size, composition and age of the installed fleet, whilst simultaneously investigating the most numerous OEMs, registries and base locations.
Background
Japan is the fourth largest economy in the world. It has expertise in advanced manufacturing (most notably vehicles, machinery, chemicals and manufactured goods) and services.
Japan’s services sector, including financial services, now accounts for approximately 75 per cent of GDP. Key export markets include the United States, China and the Republic of Korea.
Analysis
In spite of the size of its population and economy and the international nature of much of its business, Japan has a comparatively modest installed business jet fleet of 60* aircraft (*Source: AMSTAT, April ‘24) - a fleet not too dissimilar in size to that of Spain, the subject of our last edition of Ionic Insights (see that analysis here).
Much like Spain, Light/Very-light jets dominate and in fact represent almost three quarters of all aircraft. Textron (Cessna) is the largest OEM by fleet size, alone making up forty-five percent of the fleet.
Over half of all aircraft are based in the capital city of Tokyo. Whilst the most popular aircraft model is the HondaJet Elite.
Overall, the average age of the fleet is a relatively young 10 years; with 77% percent of the fleet being registered domestically, JA-.
See the following slide for a detailed breakdown of this analysis:
Source: AMSTAT, April 2024.
Ionic Insights: The Business Jet Fleet in Spain
Welcome to the latest edition of Ionic Insights in which we focus on the business jet fleet in Spain.
We analyse the size, composition and age of the installed fleet, whilst simultaneously investigating the most numerous OEMs, registries, operators and base locations.
Background
With a population approaching 50 million, Spain is the eurozone’s fourth largest economy and is a leader in the fields of construction (six of the ten largest global transportation construction firms are Spanish), energy, automotive manufacturing and textiles. Tourism also remains important, with Spain being the second most visited country in the world.
Analysis
Compared to neighbours France and Italy, Spain has a relatively small installed business jet fleet of 64* aircraft (*Source: AMSTAT, March ‘24), over half of which are based in the vicinity of the capital, Madrid.
Light/Very-light aircraft are by far the most numerous. It is therefore of no surprise that Textron (Cessna) is the largest OEM by fleet size; its aircraft alone making up over sixty percent of the entire fleet.
As Spanish companies have expanded internationally (most notably to Latin America, where Spain is the second largest foreign investor, after the United States) so has the country’s appetite for ultra-long-range aircraft, which now represent over one in five of all aircraft. The Bombardier Global family is particularly popular.
Overall, the average age of the fleet is a comparatively old 20 years; with 86% percent of the fleet being registered domestically, EC-.
The largest domestic operator is Madrid-headquartered Gestair.
Opportunities for Financing
Given that fifty percent of all aircraft are in the Light/Very-light category, the opportunities for international lenders are relatively slim; however, the slow but steady increase in the ownership of large cabin, ultra-long-range aircraft will attract the interest of private banks and cross-border asset financiers.
See the following slide for a detailed analysis of the fleet:
Ionic Aviation features in latest edition of Aviation Turkey magazine
Ionic Aviation is proud to announce that a past edition of Ionic Insights was featured in the most recent issue of Aviation Turkey magazine (Volume 5, Issue 21, Year 2023).
The article focussed on the installed business jet fleet in Turkey and was originally published on this website in July 2023.
The content can be viewed via the link below:
Ionic Insights: The Business Jet Fleet in India (November 2023)
This edition of Ionic Insights focuses on the business jet fleet in India. It has been a time-consuming and complexed edition to produce!
We analyse the size, composition and age of the installed fleet, whilst simultaneously investigating the most numerous OEMs and base locations.
Background
With a population exceeding 1.4 billion India is now considered to be the world's most populous country.
The country’s economy is also ranked fifth largest in the world with the biggest industry being retail, which makes up nearly twenty-five percent of the nation’s GDP. Whilst traditional industries such as agriculture and mining are still hugely significant, the IT industry continues to surge and now generates over $200 billion in annual revenue.
It is the international nature of many of these industries and a burgeoning UHNW class that is driving demand for business aviation.
Analysis
India boasts a substantial installed business jet fleet of 148* aircraft (*Source: AMSTAT, November ‘23), forty percent of which is based in the New Delhi area.
Midsize and Super-midsize aircraft dominate and together represent four out of every ten aircraft, with legacy Hawker-Beechcraft and Cessna-Textron aircraft each making up approximately 18% of the fleet.
Bombardier (including Learjet) is the largest OEM by fleet size with roughly 28% of the installed fleet. The ultra-long range Global (all variants) is particularly popular.
Overall, the average age of the fleet is a comparatively young 15 years, with 96% percent of said fleet being registered domestically (VT-).
Opportunities for Financing
To date the financing of business aircraft within India has largely been the preserve of the private banks. However, this is beginning to change and the market is increasingly attracting the attention of international asset-based financiers.
Challenges do still remain, though.
Unlike the finance and leasing of commercial airliners, ensuring the involvement of a third-party manager/operator under tripartite management agreement remains crucial; but perhaps the most significant concern is that whilst India ratified the Cape Town Convention in 2008 it is still to pass it in to law.
Consequently many lenders and lessors, who had their fingers burned as a result of the collapse of Kingfisher Airlines (and others) over a decade ago, were last year frustrated by the granting of bankruptcy protection to budget airline GoFirst, where they again found that they were prevented from recovering their assets in a timely and efficient manner.
See the following slide for a detailed breakdown of the fleet:
Source: AMSTAT, November 2023.
Ionic Aviation to attend NBAA-BACE 2023
Ionic Aviation is looking forward to attending NBAA-BACE in Las Vegas, Nevada from 17-19 October.
NBAA is the world’s largest business aviation event where industry professionals from all over the world come together to connect, network and explore the possibilities of future business and collaboration over the course of three event-filled days.
Should you wish to connect at the show do not hesitate to contact Ionic MD, Graeme Shanks, directly.
Ionic Insights: NBAA-BACE 2023: The Business Jet Fleet in Nevada (October 2023)
To coincide with NBAA-BACE taking place in Las Vegas from 17-19 October, this edition of Ionic Insights focuses on the business jet fleet in Nevada.
We analyse the size, composition and age of the installed fleet, whilst simultaneously investigating the most numerous OEMs, owners and base locations.
Background
The seventh largest state by land mass, Nevada has a population of a little over three million, half of whom reside in the Las Vegas metropolitan area.
Whilst the traditional foundations of Nevada’s economy - including mining and agriculture - remain important, they are now overshadowed by the manufacturing, government and tourism sectors. In fact, as of 2022 the largest industries by revenue were tourism ($317 billion) and casino-hotels ($29 billion).
Analysis
Nevada boasts a substantial installed business jet fleet of 227* aircraft (*Source: AMSTAT, September ‘23), nearly eighty percent of which are based in the wider Las Vegas area.
Midsize and Super-midsize aircraft dominate and together represent four out of every ten aircraft. It is not a surprise, therefore, that Cessna-Textron is the largest OEM by fleet size with almost one-quarter of the installed fleet; the CJ3 and CJ3+ are particularly popular.
Gulfstream boasts a similarly large fleet, with the G450 and G550 being the most numerous types.
Given the significance of tourism, it follows that a number of the casino-hotel groups are the largest owners of business aircraft. This includes Las Vegas Sands (with its fleet of nine Airbus, Boeing and Gulfstream aircraft) and MGM Mirage (with its six Embraer and Gulfstream jets). Despite this, corporate airliners (‘bizliners’) such as the Airbus Corporate Jet, Boeing Business Jet and Embraer Lineage product lines, still make up less than 6% of all aircraft.
Overall, the average age of the fleet is a little under 18 years; 97% percent of which is registered domestically (N).
See the following slide for further information:
Source: AMSTAT, September 2023.
Ionic Insights: The Business Jet Fleet in Turkey (July 2023)
Welcome to the latest iteration of Ionic Insights! In this edition we focus on Turkey.
We analyse the size, composition and age of the installed business jet fleet, whilst simultaneously investigating the most popular aircraft registries, OEMs, operators and base locations.
Background and Economy
A large and mountainous country, Turkey stretches about 400 miles from north to south and 1,000 miles from east to west. The capital city is Ankara, whilst the largest city is the port of Istanbul.
The Turkish economy has, over recent decades, been transformed from one predominantly focused on agriculture to one in which manufacturing and services are now the fastest-growing sectors. Services (including tourism) now employ about one half of the workforce, while agriculture and industry each employ one quarter.
Manufacturing is largely centred around the major conurbations of Istanbul and Ankara. Key exports include textiles, iron and steel, fruits and vegetables, livestock, tobacco and machinery. About fifty percent of all trade is with Europe.
Whilst roads remain the most important method of transportation, the state airline and others provide air links through Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, and there is an internal network linking these cities with more than a dozen other regional hubs. Airports on the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts cater to the burgeoning tourist industries there and business aviation is playing an increasingly important part.
Fleet Analysis
Turkey boasts a sizeable installed business jet fleet of 125* aircraft (*Source: AMSTAT, July ‘23), over half of which are based in Istanbul. Given the country’s location at the crossroads of Europe and the Middle East and its overall scale, midsize/super-midsize aircraft dominate and currently represent over one third of all aircraft.
Bombardier (including Lear) is the largest OEM by fleet size, with the Challenger 605 and Global models being particularly popular. Cessna-Textron comes second and dominates the light/very-light jet segment. There are only five corporate airliners (including ACJ and BBJ aircraft) in service, all of which are owned and operated by government/military bodies.
Overall, the average age of the fleet is a little over 14 years; and over eighty percent of all aircraft are registered domestically, TC-.
The largest domestic aircraft operators are Genel Havacilik, RedStar, Swan Aviation and Black Eagle.
See the following slide for further information:
Source: AMSTAT, July 2023.