Boutsen Aviation, a specialist in the management of corporate jet and helicopter sales transactions located in Monaco, has experienced a rebound in Q3 2020 powered by two sales – a Piaggio Avanti II and a Global 5000 – as well as some new additions to its exclusive listings.

Sustaining this momentum, the fourth quarter has seen two other transactions closed in the past few weeks, which have sent a Gulfstream G550 and a Challenger 350 to new homes. Despite national border restrictions, the sales team has organised and supervised the closings wherever they took place in the world with the same care as in normal times. In addition to these recent sales, four Cessna Citations and one A319CJ have deals pending and are almost ready to fly to their future owners. As well as saying goodbye to some business jets, the company is also pleased to welcome three new aircraft for sale: a Falcon 7X has been added to its listings and a Beechcraft King Air 350 and AS350 B3 will soon hit the market.

Currently, Boutsen Aviation's exclusive listings include one Lineage 1000E, one Gulfstream G650, two Falcons, five Citations, one King Air, one Agusta and one Airbus AS350 B3 along with eight off-market opportunities.

“Although geopolitical and pandemic conditions have led to a real economic crisis, we have witnessed strong resilience in the industry's global activity,” remarks president Dominique Trinquet. “In fact, we have seen a tremendous upsurge in activity in Q3 in all categories.”

The company is wondering whether Q4 will be as active as usual. For the moment, prospective buyers of new and pre-owned business aircraft are in shorter supply than usual, but Boutsen says it is important to keep things in perspective. “The continued recovery in business jet activity in Europe is coming, and we are now observing significant improvements in terms of market activity,” says market analyst Benjamin Ribouleau. “Even though recorded sale prices are lower than what we would have expected, transactions are occurring again and we are identifying more and more buyers shifting their investment priorities to rapidly capture emerging opportunities.”

These recorded transactions allow the company to hope for a return to normality in the year 2021, assuming that the world defeats the pandemic. “It is a bold new world we've stepped into in 2020, and every obstacle presents a new opportunity. Our passion has kept us in place. New visions, new logics have helped us to add new bricks and build the company stronger,” adds Trinquet.

Founder and chairman Thierry Boutsen concludes: “2020 will surely be a watershed for everyone but despite the impact it has had on the business aviation market, we have never stopped carrying out our projects with optimism and have always tried to come up with an answer. We are ready for this new year and really look forward to what it will bring.”