It’s no surprise to anyone in aviation that 2007 was a good year but just how good a year it was became clear in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. The General Aviation Manufacturers Association released its annual statistics (PDF) on aircraft deliveries, and business jets simply blew away other sectors in all aspects. “Aside from the record set for year-end billings, the industry also experienced an all-time high in business jet shipments, delivering over 1,000 units for the first time in history,” GAMA reported. In fact, business jets accounted for more than 25 percent of the impressive total of 4,272 aircraft sold in 2007, with 1,186 delivered. The business jet tally was up 28.4 percent over 2006’s total of 886. Turboprop numbers were also up at 459 (412 last year) and piston aircraft sales were down slightly at 2,675, compared to 2,755 in 2006.
Cessna delivered a total of 388 jets. The most popular was the XLS (82), followed by the CJ3 (78). Cessna shipped 45 entry-level Mustangs in 2007, a number that will go up considerably this year as production ramps up in Independence. Cessna sold by far the most airplanes, a total of 1,274 piston, turboprop and jet aircraft. But the $3.9 billion derived from those sales was far behind the money leader. Bombardier’s 226 deliveries were worth $5.2 billion. Gulfstream, with 136 deliveries, collected $4.8 billion. Hawker Beechcraft sold 351 aircraft, most of them jets and King Airs, and took in revenue of almost $1.9 billion.
