I’ve been a bit negligent on sending out a market update recently. The 4th quarter of 2025 was as busy a quarter as I can remember, and there was not a lot of spare time to write market reports. We were working hard to get transactions closed, so that our customers could benefit from getting aircraft in service before year end, so they could take advantage of the Bonus Depreciation available on aircraft purchases. In order to get some of them completed in time, we had to get a bit creative this year, as a lot of the inspection facilities were slammed and unable to accommodate all the pre-buys we wanted done.
For some clients, this meant contracting for an aircraft and closing on it, with the pre-purchase inspection to be completed at a later time. I would not recommend this if you have any reservations about the aircraft’s ownership or maintenance history, as it does not provide the right to reject the aircraft should significant findings be uncovered. But, for newer aircraft that have been well taken care of, it can be a way for both buyer & seller to meet their goals of closing by year end and still getting a good look at the aircraft. That to say, if you are thinking you might want to acquire and aircraft to be put in service in 2026, you would be much better served to start the process early so you can get a full pre-purchase inspection and still have the right to reject the aircraft should something be uncovered that is a show stopper.
For your reference, I have attached some market snapshots of the Business Jet & Turbo Prop markets which should provide some insight on activity levels and recent trends in each marketplace:
Business Jet Market
- Supply levels of business jet aircraft for sale was steady for much of 2025. However; starting in November, the number of aircraft dropped considerably as clients purchased aircraft, many of whom were motivated by the available depreciation.
- There are currently 1,665 business jets for sale, representing 6.7% of the active fleet, which I would consider a fairly “balanced market”.
- However; many of the aircraft for sale are older, legacy aircraft. Many aircraft that are currently in production are in extremely short supply, and difficult to find, with prices climbing on many newer models.
- The drop in average asking prices that is demonstrated on the bottom left graph is somewhat misleading. A large contributor to the drop was the sale of ultra long-range aircraft with high asking prices that were sold during fourth quarter.
- Transaction levels spiked in October and November, and as usual, December was the largest month of aircraft transactions over the last 12-months.
- Overall, I will say that the business jet market remains split: Older, legacy aircraft continue to fall out of favor and lose value, while newer, current generation aircraft remain in high demand with prices steadily increasing, depending on the make and model. Business Jets Market Snapshot
Turbo-Prop Market
- While the turbo-prop market remains strong, it did not see the run on aircraft during Q4 of 2025 that business jets did. Inventory levels have been steadily climbing for the past year and only saw a minor tick down after year end.
- That said, supply is at 5.4% of the active fleet, so it would also be considered a balanced market. The difference is, there does not seem to be quite so many legacy aircraft making up such a large part of aircraft listed for sale.
- Average asking prices also dipped on turbo-props after year end, but the overall trend on prices for turbo-props over the last year has been down.
- December was the biggest month for transactions on turbo-props as well, but not such a large jump over the other months. Turboprops Market Snapshot
The new year has started off strong. We have several new projects in the work, and I expect transaction levels to be on par with 2025 for the quarter or two. The tariff situation is starting to settle down, with only a few countries left that really need some resolution (primarily Canada and Israel). The stock market has made good progress with the Dow Jones Industrial Index breaking 50K and leading economic indicators pointing mostly in a good direction.
I hope you find this information helpful. If you would like some additional information, or would like to see some data in any specific market segment, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Kind regards,
Toby Smith