Deliveries of new business jets continue to grow despite the slow economy and, according to Honeywell’s 10th annual business aviation outlook, the market will remain healthy in the near term with purchase expectations up in all regions.
However, the forecast, which Honeywell planned to release at the NBAA Convention last month, doesn’t consider the effects of the catastrophic and subsequent events of September 11 when terrorists crashed hijacked airliners into New York’s World Trade Center and the Pentagon. As the outlook concedes: it “does not reflect the impact of additional unforeseen events such as a major economic shock, fuel crisis or new regulatory restrictions,” all possible outcomes of the September 11 disaster. Nevertheless, Honeywell told AIN it stands by the forecast, which projects that 8,900 business jets, valued at over $136 billion, will be delivered between 2002 and 2011, a 30-percent increase over the previous five-year period.
