Exploring the potential of very light jets (VLJs)
Tired bands of commercial airliners grow even more weary at the prospect of even bigger airports, even bigger planes, longer check-in times, and longer delays. The joy of arriving at the local airfield with your small group of passengers, your destination, another small airfield 1,200 miles away, is now spreading. Whether the purpose of the trip is business or pleasure, just getting off the yacht for a couple of days, or just taking an air taxi, it’s the price of the VLJ that will take people down a notch. food chain. Currently, the cheapest private jet costs around USD 4 million / GBP 2.3 million. The VLJ revolution will bring aircraft to market from USD1.3m/GBP750,000 starting in August this year.
The cheaper five-seat Eclipse, made in the US, will be the first to launch with firm orders, along with deposits for 2,400 planes on the books. It is ahead of the competition in terms of time and price, but not in terms of facilities: there is no toilet.
Next on the market in December will be the Cessna Citation Mustang. It’s also a five-seater, it’s faster than the Eclipse, and it’s also almost twice as expensive ($2.5m/GBP 1.4m), but at least there’s a toilet on board.
The Adam A700 will also be released in December. With six seats but lower speed and range than the competition, it may also struggle with the $2.1m/GBP 1.2m price tag.
The largest of the planned VLJs will be Embraer’s Phenom. Now, with considerable experience building short-haul regional jets, the Brazilian manufacturer is designing a wider plane with more head and elbow room than the competition. Designed to carry seven passengers plus a pilot, the price is expected to be around USD 2.75 million/GBP 1.6 million when it becomes available in mid-2008.
Honda is also rumored to have a plan on the drawing board, as well as numerous start-ups around the world, some of which will no doubt become victims along the way. While the US FAA predicts only 100 of the new generation of VLJs will fly by the end of this year, it suggests annual growth of 1,000 a year by the end of the decade. The prospect of thousands of small jets connecting the world’s tens of thousands of small airfields will be a dream come true for large numbers of pleasure-minded business travelers and HNWIs. However, it will present a new challenge for air traffic control centers, which will have to take into account an increasing number of new aircraft movements in their calculations.
With such a large new industry beginning to develop, it seems certain that the Isle of Man Aircraft Registry will be a success for those wishing to register an aircraft on this side of the Atlantic.
Remember, ILS has the right corporate structures available when it comes to purchasing VLJs, whether you are considering a single aircraft or an entire fleet.
More information at http://www.ils-world.com