The financial downturn has led to widespread belt-tightening, even among mega-cap companies and UHNW individuals.  It is unsurprising then that across Europe the proportion of private jet planes up for sale doubled in the twelve months leading up to December 2008, according to aviation hire company Jet Republic.

As the average cost of a used jet is around $16 million, and average annual running costs are $3.5 million, companies and UHNW individuals are selling their jets to reduce costs or raise funds. Data from Jet Republic shows that the percentage of active European business aircraft which is up for sale rose from 6 per cent in December 2007 to 12.7 per cent at the end of 2008.

This trend is particularly marked in the UK, which is home to the second largest active fleet of business aircraft in Europe behind Germany.  Jet Republic estimates that 16 per cent of jets registered in the UK are now up for sale, while for Germany and Spain the figures are 15 and 12 per cent respectively.

According to Jet Republic, as many as 49 used business jets, with a value of  $769 million could currently be up for sale in the UK.  But this does not mean that private jet travel has fallen out of favour completely - instead, individuals and companies are switching to shared ownership or card schemes whereby a set amount of flight time is bought.

Jet Republic says that now 10 per cent of the enquiries it receives are from individuals or companies that used to own a private jet, or are in the process of selling one. Prior to the financial crisis they would only expect around 2 per cent of enquiries to come from this group.

“The UK is a key market for us”, said Jonathan Breeze, chief executive of Jet Republic. “Over a third (36 per cent) of our enquiries have been from people living in Britain.”