Wow, the rich are clamering for their business jets! Honeywell International (NASDAQ:HON) this week raised its estimates of business jet deliveries, saying the global pandemic spurred a wave of first-time users and buyers of private planes.
The company increased its forecast by 15% from last year's report, now estimating as many as 8,500 new business jet deliveries worth $274 billion from 2023 to 2032. It also forecast usage this year will rise 9%.
"Demand for new business jets is as high as we've seen it since 2015, and we expect high levels of demand and expenditures for new aircraft for several more years," Heath Patrick, president of Honeywell Aerospace, Americas aftermarket, said in a statement.
Demand for private flights surged as COVID-19 led well-heeled consumers to find ways to travel while avoiding crowded plans. Others who had typically flown first-class on commercial airlines increasingly are choosing private charters instead.
About three quarters of new users said they expect to fly as often next year as they did in 2022, Honeywell found in its survey. The company makes a variety of equipment for commercial, defense and space aircraft.
Business turboprops and small-cabin jets each make up 35% of the kinds of planes carrying these new users. Medium jets and large long-range jets are a smaller part of this new-user fleet, Honeywell said in an announcement.
Business jet operators who responded to the survey expect new jet purchase plans on par with 2019 levels. The finding suggests stable demand for aircraft makers including Airbus (OTCPK:EADSF), Boeing (BA), Bombardier (OTCQX:BDRBF) and General Dynamics (GD).