Our Central and Eastern Europe Sales Director, Marian Jancarik, was interviewed for E15.cz , a business news website in the Czech Republic on the state of the private aviation market.
Below is a translated excerpt of the interview. The full interview (in Czech) can be found at www.15.cz/privateaviation
How has the coronavirus crisis affected the sale of private aircraft in the Czech Republic and Slovakia?
The market was shocked in March when the crisis began. Everyone was terrified and waited for what would happen, because they had not experienced such a thing. Almost all aircraft were grounded. Only about 1,300 – 1,500 aircraft were flying at the time, and most of them were cargo flights dealing with the COVID-19 crisis. The whole world froze, as did the Czech-Slovak market. People did not know what would happen and how it would affect their business, whether favorably or unfavorably. However, after the initial shock, people returned to their lives.
Even before the pandemic, the price of aircraft fell. Has the pandemic deepened this trend?
Definitely. There are some crises and difficulties in the market, so buyers are expecting prices to decrease. But we will not fully know the impact on pricing overall until next year. However, we are already seeing that sellers of pre-owned aircraft have reduced their asking price by around ten percent.
Had aircraft sales risen to pre-Financial Crisis levels in 2008?
Yes and no. There has been a fundamental change. Until 2011, the number of transactions of pre-owned and new aircraft were relatively the same. Since 2011, sales of pre-owned aircraft are growing, while sales of new aircraft are declining.
Can only billionaires afford to buy private jets?
No, but clearly this is a luxury product that not everyone can afford – really only a small group of people. When you buy a business jet, spending does not end with the purchase itself, but on the contrary is just beginning. Operating costs are also a major factor in ownership.
Which private jets are the most popular among Czech and Slovak buyers?
The companies are territorially European, so you need to fly around Europe, which is 1,500 miles. The Citation XL series, Hawker 400 or Embraer Phenom 100 and Phenom 300 machines are perfect for this and quite popular here.