The International Aircraft Dealer Association on April 11 released its 2022 First Quarter Market Report showing the bull market for preowned business aircraft continued in the first quarter of 2022. Members of the International Aircraft Dealers Association (IADA) closed 288 deals from January through March, compared to 213 transactions in the same period in 2022, a 35 per cent increase.

IADA began monthly tracking of preowned sales metrics for business aircraft in April 2020 as a result of the volatile market conditions caused by the pandemic. Transaction volume by member dealers reflects the overall health of the used aircraft market, explains IADA, because its dealers buy and sell more aircraft by dollar volume than the rest of the world’s dealers combined.

“We live in tumultuous times. Despite that, the aviation field continues to show extraordinary strength. Global demand is very high. Much like the fourth quarter of 2021, that demand is married to constrained inventory levels,” said Wayne Starling, Executive Director, IADA. “From a qualitative point of view, our members sense a softening of those constraints and look forward to greater inventory levels as the year progresses.”

During the first quarter of 2022, IADA explains its members entered into 223 acquisition agreements, had been exclusively retained to sell 155 aircraft, had 259 aircraft under contract, and saw only 45 deals fall apart for one reason or another.

“We are continuing to see strong demand for aircraft. It does seem the speed at which we get a listing under LOI is decreasing,” said Cody Vanderslice of Textron Aviation, an IADA OEM member, adding context to the report. “It also seems there are more off-market aircraft being communicated. This indicates we may be seeing the first signs of the market softening a touch. Pricing remains very strong and availability remains very limited, but it’s possible the first week of March was the peak for pricing and low availability. We will know in a month.”

(Image: IADA)