Elite take private jets to new highs

Private jet traffic is soaring to unprecedented levels as a burgeoning tier of super-rich private individuals and high-earning executives turn their backs on scheduled air travel, impatient with lengthy security procedures and frequent delays.
Despite unprecedented awareness about the impact of air travel on global warming, aircraft manufacturers forecast worldwide deliveries of new business jets will come close to 10,000 over the next decade - almost double the production rate for the previous 10 years. Adding in very light jets, the forecast rises to about 18,000.
Private air travel will always be regarded as a hallmark of corporate excess in some quarters. But many boardrooms, emboldened by a favourable economic climate, are increasingly confident such an apparent extravagance can be justified if it enables the highest paid executives to maximise the time spent engaged with their work.
The longest order lists are coming from China, Russia and India, fast-growing economies with vast land masses that are difficult to cross by other means, according to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association. For the past 20 years, the US and Canada have generated about three-quarters of business jet sales. Last year jet makers reported that, for the first time, most orders were coming from outside North America.
09/06/07 Simon Bowers/The Guardian, UK

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Categories: Foreign Jun 2007, General Aviation Jun 2007, New Jun 2007