April delivery numbers 35% down on 2011

Unadjusted business jet delivery numbers from FlightGlobal’s Ascend Online database for April show 22 aircraft delivered, a 35% drop when compared to the same month last year.

Cessna had a really slow month, delivering a single Citation XLS+ to German charter operator Air Hamburg , a major drop from the 8 aircraft delivered in April 2011.

Another airframer having a quiet month were Embraer, who delivered a single Phenom 300 to US fractional operator Flight Options, who now operate 10 of the type.

Hawker Beechcraft might be excused for having other things on their mind through the month, but the 2 aircraft delivered probably added to their woes. Both aircraft were bound for US customers, with 1 being a Hawker 4000, and the other a Premier 1A.

Dassault’s Falcon 7X continued to deliver in good numbers, with 4 aircraft shipping during the month. Of these aircraft 1 went to the US, 1 to China, 1 to the Isle of Man, and 1 to Belgian charter operator Abelag. Dassault also celebrated delivered their first Falcon into Thailand during the month, with Falcon 2000LX msn 166 being delivered to Siam Winery Trading Plus Co. Ltd.

Gulfstream had a fairly subdued month, delivering 6 aircraft across the range. 1 G150 was delivered to the Isle of Man, and 1 G450 was delivered to Finish charter and management company AirFix. But the majority of aircraft Gulfstream delivered were G550s, with 2 going to US customers, and 1 each to China and Germany. The Chinese G550 however suffered a lightning strike shortly after take off from London’s Luton Airport on the second stage of it’s delivery flight and diverted into London’s Stansted Airport. After being made airworthy again at Stansted the aircraft ferried back to the airframers Savannah base for repairs. Another G550 that had its delivery flight during the month was Anglo American Corp’s G550 msn 5343 / ZS-AOL, however this was officially handed over by Gulfstream in December 2011, so has been omitted from the numbers.

But it was Bombardier who delivered the most, with 7 aircraft in total. Of these 5 were Challenger 300s with 2 going to US customers, and one each to Brazil, China and Mexico. Bombardier also delivered 1 Challenger 605 to Qatar and a LearJet 45 to an Argentinian company.

But it’s not all bad news. With the 22 aircraft delivered in April, the total aircraft delivered so far this year stands at 121. That’s 1 single aircraft above the 2011 figure.