Luxury private jetmakers lure wealthy Asians
Luxury private jet makers are looking for buyers in the world’s most expensive city, seeking the rich and famous of Asia with state-of-the-art features.
At the Singapore Airshow this week, private jets on display showcase everything from adjustable desks on board to the latest in entertainment systems and even abundant sunlight with bigger windows. The idea is to convince the busy business traveler how he can work, dine, and sleep comfortably on the plane on an 11-hour trip from Tokyo to New York.
Gulfstream, a unit of General Dynamics Corp., is showcasing a range of its aircraft at Asia’s biggest aviation event, including the debut of its G600, which is expected to enter service next year. Also on display is the G650, the private-jet industry’s largest business aircraft, which can clock a Tokyo-New York trip in less than 11 hours.
The G500 by Gulfstream, the world’s most profitable private jet maker, is scheduled to enter service this year. It can fly as far as 9,630 kilometers (6,000 miles) and can seat up to 19 passengers. Pedestal-mounted and height-adjustable conference tables along with high-speed communications and entertainment equipment make the aircraft “an office in the sky,” according to its website.
Textron, Inc.-owned Cessna’s Citation Longitude, which the company calls “a revolution in business aviation,” is also on display in Singapore. The aircraft can fly to Sydney from Singapore in about 7.5 hours, at a total cost of $14,226, according to its online brochure.
HondaJet, which Honda Motor Co. bills as the fastest, quietest, and most fuel-efficient jet in its class, is equipped to seat as many as seven passengers with leather seats. Its jet engines are located on top of the wings, increasing fuel efficiency by about 15 percent and freeing up about 20 percent more cabin space than in comparable aircraft, according to the company.
HondaJet, the business aircraft developed by Honda Motor Co., sees big prospects in China and Southeast Asia as wealthy individuals seek out the lightweight plane as an efficiency tool.
There’s a “huge potential,” Honda Aircraft Co. Chief Executive Officer Michimasa Fujino said in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s Haslinda Amin at the Singapore Airshow Tuesday. “I’m looking at the next 10 years, approximately 700 or 800 units will be sold in these territories.”
With leather seats for as many as seven passengers, the company bills the $4.5-million jet as the fastest, quietest and most fuel-efficient in its class. The plane made its maiden Japanese flight in April, 2015 after three decades in development, and received type certification from the US Federal Aviation Administration in December that year.
Entrepreneurs and young businessmen are starting to realize that a small business jet isn’t a luxury, “but more like a productivity tool to boost their business,” Fujino said.
While the number of high net worth individuals in China is almost the same as in the US, only about 2.5 percent of those in China are using their own business jets, compared with about 18 percent for some western countries like the US, the executive said.
“That percentage gap should be decreased in the future,” Fujino said. (Bloomberg)