At the annual European Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition in Geneva, one prediction was that corporate aircraft deliveries would take three years to recover to 2008 levels, assuming the economy bounces back next year and sales recover in 2012

Crashing global economy, the US government’s attack on business aviation and the worst sudden downturn in the industry’s history—all that notwithstanding, the annual European Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition (EBACE) held in Geneva put forth a display of optimism and hope for the beleaguered sector. While some of the stars of previous business aviation shows had fallen by the wayside in the period between the NBAA event in October 2008 and this year’s EBACE on May 12-14—Very Light Jets, like the Eclipse and Adam, being the main victims—those that are surviving say they can already sense the green shoots of recovery.

Ray Jones, Head of International Sales from Bombardier was one of the first to toss the coin for optimism. Business aviation exists for a reason, he says. “If it made sense for a company to use an aircraft to meet its business needs before the global downturn, then it makes sense now. There are a host of reasons why the market has depressed in the United States, but if we look at the growing emerging economies, such as China and India, there is great demand.

Infrastructure and air management remain an issue but the business case is compelling. Busy people need to get to places efficiently and business aviation is a proven means by which to do that. Cessna Chairman, President and Chief Executive Jack Pelton agreed. The current meltdown in business aviation activity, while the most profound in many years, is best kept in perspective when discussing the global role of business aviation and of Cessna, he stresses.

Focus On the Existing & Enduring
Rather than focus on what we aren’t producing, Cessna has chosen to focus on what we are producing. It is true that we will not produce at the levels anticipated a year ago, but we are going to deliver about 300 Citations in 2009, slightly fewer than in 2010, and these are numbers that in years past would have been cause for celebration, Pelton says. We will spend about the same percentage of revenue in 2009 on new product and new feature development, and we will spend it on satisfying customer requirements for existing products in existing markets. We will continue to improve our global customer service network—already second to none in the industry—and make it even more responsive to the customer.

Pelton had previously announced the suspension of the Columbus programme, the super-mid-size jet that would be the flagship of the company’s product offering. Be clear, this is not killing off the programme. It will happen, he says.

Even as some programmes were dropping off the radar screens, new ideas emerged at the show. European turboprop manufacturer ATR announced it is entering the business aviation market with the ATR Corporate. We are working internally on a nickname for the aircraft, but we wanted to come to EBACE to promote the idea of comfort, performance and efficient travel on a platform that is proven, says ATR Sales Director Milco Rappuoli.

Several airlines have used the best-selling regional turboprop in a quick-turnaround convertible from VIP to shuttle or medevac, but last year ATR took an order from a customer in Azerbaijan to deliver a fully equipped VIP aircraft. It really worked, says Rappuoli. In a VIP configuration, the aircraft has a range of 1,640 nm (3,034 km). In addition, the short-field performance—we only need a 2,950 ft strip—means we can reach 25 per cent more airports compared to a corporate jet.

The joint venture between EADS and Alenia has won an order from the Thai air force as a head-of-state aircraft. The basic corporate variant is priced at $17 million (Rs 80 crore) and can be configured with a forward VIP lounge of eight seats and a number of different seating options at the rear. ATR is confident there will be good take-up. It makes economic sense, says Rappuoli. Because of the airframe it can be converted back to a passenger or cargo aircraft for relatively little cost to meet the particular needs of the customer, so the asset value remains high. The ATR has proven capability on unpaved strips and can be configured to allow flexible space as well as VIP passengers. We see good opportunities for India or the Middle East, he adds.

Zeroing In On Other Possibilities
Other regional or short haul aircraft could also be seen in the skies of Asia if the Dubai-based Project Phoenix team have their way. The company is planning to extend its business model for branded personalised conversions of Bombardier CJ200 regional jets by adding Boeing 737s and competing with Boeing Business Jets. The first flight of the Phoenix CRJ in Toronto is due immediately after EBACE, followed by delivery to its launch customer in Macao early in June.

Company Founder and President Mike Cappuccitti is looking to the future. What we have done with the CRJ is taken a very good airplane and made it even better, Cappuccitti says. It took us a lot longer than we had planned to deliver the first aircraft due to changes in the STC for the tanks on the conversion. But we are now looking at other possibilities. The Boeing 737-300 and 737-500 are ideal vehicles. There are plenty of them around and provided we can get the STCs sorted out, we believe there will be demand for the quality that we are delivering on the Phoenix CJ200.