The Jet Business Bloomberg Editorial March 2012

On another aviation market set to pick up pace: private jets. Well, if you've never flown in your very own plane and you're wondering what it's like, well, there's now a new shop that recreates the look and feel in its bid to sell to the global elite. Olivia Stearns went down to the jet business to see what they've got in store.

Walk on board a private jet and the appeal of owning one is instantly obvious. But to prove the point, Steve Rozano has built a mock-up. "Okay, so as you can see through the windows here, it's simulated that we're flying. We could change it to day or night, or thunderstorms, or sunny."

"And how much would this cost?"

"This is about 85 million dollars new." He set up a showroom right in the heart of London, hoping to sell used planes to buyers from all around the world. "We see activity coming from China, from India, actually from Mexico, Nigeria. We see a lot of these places which used to be frontier markets, and they went to emerging markets, and now they're real significant markets. I'd say about 60% of our business is the ultra-high-net-worth type people. 30 percent are the corporate executives buying for the corporations, and about 10% are governments."

To browse the inventory, Verzano has set up an interactive display complete with all the interior and technical specs at the Jet Business showroom. Customers can come in and work out exactly what type of plane is best for them, depending on the size, speed, and cost. "So for example, I've been able to find a three-year-old G550 that I could buy for about 45 million dollars that would get me and 16 of my closest business associates to New York for about forty-five thousand dollars."

"And here on the simulation wall, the plane is actually traced out in real-life scale, so I can tell exactly how well I would fit."

So, how much demand can Verzano actually expect? Well, JP Morgan says the business jet market is largely a function of corporate profits. By that metric, they expect new deliveries to bounce back some eight percent this year after flatlining in 2011. In the pre-owned market, though, jet prices are still stuck in a trough, so analysts say it's too soon to conclude that things have simply bounced back.

"I think everyone's desperately looking for signs that it adds, but they're not really there yet. On average, 12 percent of all jets change hands every year, and that's happening, but the prices are way lower than they were in 2007. The big aircraft have held up much stronger than the large Gulf Streams. The large Bombardier aircraft have held up. There's a lot of demand, demand fueled not just by the small crop of the world's wealthiest who can afford those big planes but also by the fact that new buyers in emerging countries have further to fly."