SHAPING BUSINESS AVIATION'S FUTURE WITH MILESTONES AND TRENDS

The 2024 NBAA-BACE highlighted major trends including Fractional Ownership, Business Aviation Safety and Security, Sustainability, Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), Artificial Intelligence in Business Aviation, and overall industry growth

- AYUSHEE CHAUDHARY

The NBAA’s 2024 Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition emphasised using industry giants’ lessons to drive toward a promising future. “We create jobs, provide global access, boost productivity, support relief efforts, and continuously focus on efficiency and sustainability,” said NBAA’s President Ed Bolen.

The NBAA-BACE panel of top aircraft brokers reported continued demand for pre owned jets, despite a market adjustment post-COVID. “Year-over-year, we’re seeing a balanced, healthy market,” noted jetAVIVA CEO Emily Deaton. While fleet availability rose to 6-7 per cent, Dallas Jet International’s Brad Harris emphasised it remains a seller’s market.

Shifts in buyer demographics also emerged, with younger clients favoring fractional ownership and single-seat charters due to sustainability considerations. Looking forward, Steve Varsano of The Jet Business pointed to OEMs’ own advanced products from the last decade as their main competition. Transaction times remain strained due to supply chain issues, but brokers don’t expect headlines on the economy or geopolitical events to impact jet sales significantly.

“People buy airplanes because they need them for business,” Varsano concluded. Through several of these discussions that took place during the convention, some of the major topics and trends observed at NBAA BACE included Fractional Ownership; Business Aviation Safety and Security; Sustainability; Advance Air Mobility; Artificial Intelligence in Business Aviation and the growth trends of the industry.

FRACTIONAL OWNERSHIP INSIGHTS AT 2024 NBAA-BACE