Market for private jets in Asia seen expanding

Sales of private jets and helicopters in countries like the Philippines are expected to surge this year as the Asia-Pacific region’s economic engines kick into high gear amid crisis conditions in Europe and the United States.

Apart from the increasing number of multi-millionaires and billionaires in the region, more businessmen are also realizing that jets and helicopters, often seen as symbols of corporate excess, can be used as tools to increase productivity.

“The US and European markets are really slow right now because of the crisis. So there’s a lot of focus on Asia. More people are seeing that these aircraft can be business tools. They don’t mind buying,” said Belinda Nasikin, Southeast Asia sales director for Paris-based Dassault Falcon Jet Corp.

Dassault Falcon is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of private jets, but the company also makes fighter planes for military purposes.

This year, the company expects to get several orders of its new Falcon 2000LX, an eight-seat, twin-engine private jet that has a range of about 4,000 nautical miles or eight hours. This means the plane can fly direct to as far as India and Eastern Europe.

Nasikin said the company’s main target market would be tycoons and big corporations that can afford or even realize savings from having their own jets. The company also caters to charter flight operators that are looking to add the Falcon 2000LX which, according to the company, is one of the most fuel-efficient planes in its class, to their respective fleets.

The new Falcon costs $32 million and will take about a year to deliver.

Nasikin is in the country for Dassault Falcon’s joint marketing event with fellow European aircraft manufacturer Eurocopter, the world’s leading helicopter maker. On Monday, both firms held a reception for potential customers—mostly CEOs and owners of the country’s top 50 corporations.

Eurocopter Philippines Inc. commercial director Jussi Hoikka said helicopter sales in the Philippines had been steady in the last 15 years.  He said the company had been selling four to eight planes a year.

“There aren’t any slump years, but there hasn’t been any breakout year yet either,” he said on Monday. He said a good indicator for the company’s sales was the performance of the stock market.

“We’ve observed that our sales are directly related to the stock market. If stocks are high, we are able to sell more. If stocks are down, there’s less demand,” he said.