Private Jet Card Comparisons - Know Before You Buy
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Ajax Jets, which launched last year offering a jet card program on an owned and leased fleet of Falcon 50s and 900s, is expanding its super-midsize fleet with a co-ownership program.
Aircraft financing provider Global Jet Capital offers a bullish outlook for the sale of both new and pre-owned private jets between now and 2025. The forecast comes on the heels of fleet operators from NetJets to Wheels Up reporting record demand and jet card providers saying summer travel could be as much as 50% higher than pre-pandemic levels.
A recent Town Hall by Corporate Jet Investor with private jet aircraft sales executives revealed a stunning data point. First-time buyers who rushed to buy private jets to escape COVID-19 are already putting them up for sale.
The pros say this is mostly because they didn’t know what do. The newbies didn’t know the game. In fact, they didn’t have a game plane. And, in some cases, they didn’t have a team.
That’s right, buying a private jet is something you shouldn’t try to do with a click of your mouse on the internet.
The process of finding the right jet and then making sure everything is in order can take up to a year. Many used aircraft that are on the market are still there for a reason.
Used private jets can cost from under $500,000 to over $50 million. What seems like a great purchase price might come with millions of dollars in necessary maintenance and upgrades behind the curtain.
Panelists at the Town Hall say management companies and flight crews often downplay the costs of owning.
More than that, first-time buyers often make mistakes by not putting together a team of pros, from aviation-experienced lawyers to tax specialists to title specialists and, of course, a trusted broker. Here’s a winning game plan to ensure you get things right – and avoid expensive surprises.
Below are 40 steps Corporate Jet Investor, as part of its masterclass series, has identified key steps that are part of buying a private jet:
1. Choose your broker/dealer/transaction adviser. They should easily save you more money than their fee, and the same is true for a specialist aviation lawyer
2. Select an aircraft to match your needs/view aircraft
3. Make an offer/agree Letter of Intent (long-form vs short-form, standard versus bespoke)
4. Legal counsel review transaction structure and assess tax issues
5. Deposit placed in escrow (negotiate terms of release)
6. Buyer’s lawyer/buyer negotiates finance term sheet with financiers
7. Buyer’s lawyer conducts due diligence on title, searches for liens etc
8. Start negotiating the Aircraft Purchase Agreement and who pays what
9. Aircraft Purchase Agreement signed
10. Log book review by buyer’s technical team, check back-to-birth records
11. Appraisal for finance (if required)
12. Test flight/re-location flight – who is paying for this in Aircraft Purchase Agreement
13. Pre-purchase inspection
14. Finance documents reviewed
15. Sale document drafting starts
16. Tax advisers determine structure and importation route (if required)
17. Decision on aircraft registration, ownership structure (may require specialist counsel)
18. Choose operator if needed
19. Legal opinions on different jurisdictions requested
20. Seller rectifies discrepancies from pre-purchase inspection/negotiates changes or buyers walks away
21. Buyer reserves registration number
22. Export certificates, certificate of airworthiness
23. Final documentation review
24. Assignment of Maintenance Plans
25. Final closing points agreed
26. Insurance arranged
27. Liens and discharges
28. Money wired to escrow by financier/buyer
29. Ferry flight
30. Tax ruling opinions issued (depending on jurisdiction)
31. Seller de-registers aircraft
32. Closing call
33. Signing
34. Escrow agent receive proof of de-registration
35. Agent files bill of sale, registration application
36. Liens filed with International registry (Cape Town)
37. Registration – in U.S. Federal Aviation Administration issues flight wire
38. Importation of aircraft (if required)
39. Miscellaneous bills settled – satellite communications, maintenance programs
40. Protect asset value – hangar, engine covers etc. – ready for when the aircraft is sold
Following a plunge in preowned aircraft sales last March, members of the International Aircraft Dealers Association (IADA) saw a rising wave of used private jet transactions, highlighted by a fourth-quarter surge of 554 closed deals.