Millionaires in search of new toys are set to fuel a fourfold jump in Asia’s share of private jets in the next five years.
Asians may own as much as 20 percent of the global luxury jets fleet by 2017 as economic growth spawns new millionaires, said Singapore-based K.K. Yong, vice president of Jetsolution International Services Ltd. Southeast Asia will create the next wave of demand for private aircraft, benefiting General Dynamics Corp. (GD)’s Gulfstream, Embraer SA (EMBR3) and Textron Inc. (TXT)’s Cessna, the aviation consultant said.
Rising affluence in Southeast Asia, China and India amid a boom in mining and property projects is boosting demand for private jets to increase business flexibility and cut travel times, according to Jetsolution. The number of people in the Asia-Pacific region with at least $1 million in investable assets rose 1.6 percent to 3.37 million in 2011, RBC Wealth Management and Capgemini SA said in September.
“When people get wealthy they tend to buy what they wish to have eventually,” Yong said in an interview in Singapore on Jan. 7. “Demand for business jets is highly correlated to wealth creation, which is largely driven by economic growth in the region.”
10/01/13 Kyunghee Park/Bloomberg/Business Week
