China loses private jets as other Asian growth spots emerge
SINGAPORE, March 7 (Reuters) - A sharp fall in the number of private jets based in China in recent years shows the impact a weakening domestic economy, anti-corruption drives and the pandemic have had on the country's wealthiest, according to business aviation industry data and experts.
At the end of last year there were a third fewer private jets based in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau than the 2017 peak of 481 planes, according to data from business aviation consultancy and broker Asian Sky Group.
In the same period, the number of private jets in the rest of the Asia-Pacific region grew by 20%, led by India, Australia and Japan.
Business jets are specially designed and customisable aircraft bought or chartered by cash-rich and time-poor companies and wealthy individuals.
Flying privately costs from a couple to many thousands of dollars per hour, depending on the size of the aircraft.
Even used Falcon 8X jets, a popular long-range model made by France's Dassault Aviation (AM.PA), opens new tab, can cost about $42 million, according to online listings.
Much of the reduction in China has come from aircraft being sold, such as those owned by property firms like China Evergrande Group (3333.HK), opens new tab after the sector slipped into an unprecedented debt crisis in mid-2021.
Others were moved to places like Singapore and Japan, mirroring an exodus of wealthy Chinese abroad in recent years.
"We've picked up some nice management contracts from family owners, family offices that have moved down from Hong Kong into the more secure Singapore region," Stefan Wood, executive director at private aviation firm Air 7 Asia, told a business aviation conference in Singapore this week.
Singapore has seen steep growth in high-net-worth family offices in recent years. There were 2,000 last year, up from 400 in 2020, authorities have said.
INDIA A BRIGHT SPOT
China remains the largest market in Asia, but "there is a clear reduction in business jet use for corporate flights," said Dennis Lau, consultancy services director at Asian Sky Group.
VistaJet, a global firm that rents out its own private jets, does not yet see business in China back at pre-COVID levels, Chief Commercial Officer Ian Moore said.
"We have not focused on China as being the epicentre of Asia like you may have done five or 10 years ago. We have seen the growth coming from Southeast Asia, Japan and other regions," he told Reuters on the sidelines of the Business Aviation Asia Forum and Expo.
Asia-Pacific accounts for just 7% of the global business jet fleet, which is dominated by the huge North American market, but the region is forecast to grow at 2.1% a year over the next 10 years, outstripping the global average of 1.4%, according to the Aviation Week Intelligence Network.
As jet numbers fall in China, Southeast Asian countries like Singapore, Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia and Thailand in particular have seen strong growth rates, albeit from low bases.
The shift is partly to do with Chinese policies, such as crackdowns on ostentatious displays of wealth and long-lasting pandemic restrictions, according to industry executives.
But they said it was also attributable to emerging wealth in countries like India and Vietnam where manufacturing and foreign investment is increasingly moving as international companies look to diversify their supply chains beyond China.
The number of private planes in India has grown by almost a quarter since 2019 to 168 last year.
"India we see as an area of very intense activity that's certainly expected to grow," Lau said.
here.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South Wales Argus
2 hours ago
- South Wales Argus
TripAdvisor's five top rated Chinese restaurants in Newport
New World Cantonese Restaurant, Oodles Wok, Asaga, Dragon Palace, and Honour Garden have been hailed as the top five Chinese eateries in the city by reviewers on the travel website. New World Cantonese Restaurant on Cardiff Road has been praised for its "exquisite traditional Cantonese" dishes and "superb range". New World Cantonese (Image: Google) The establishment, which also caters to vegans, offers a variety of meals from shanghai bao buns to beef brisket. A string of reviewers described the restaurant as "the best Chinese restaurant we have been to." Others commended the "brilliant" service and "fast" delivery. Oodles Wok, also on Cardiff Road, is a family-owned business that has grown into one of the UK's leading fast-casual dining brands. Oodles Wok (Image: Supplied) The restaurant, which serves Indo-Chinese cuisine, was applauded for its "absolutely fabulous food and service" and "amazing food." One reviewer said: "I haven't been there in person but on three occasions in the space of a month I have ordered for delivery and all I can say is WOW. "Newport needed this!" Located on Commercial Street, Asaga was another popular choice among TripAdvisor users. Asaga (Image: Google) The restaurant was described as a "heavenly" food spot, with one reviewer saying: "Oh my GOD. "Me and my friend came here twice in one day, both times shared a large box. "This food was heavenly." Dragon Palace on Chepstow Road was praised for its "fantastic food and service." Dragon Palace (Image: Google) The takeaway offers a wide variety of Chinese meals, from appetisers and curries to popular chicken dishes and chow mein. One customer said: "Absolutely fantastic meal we just had from Dragon Palace. "Tried a few different places lately as we moved from the area but it has to be said this is still the best we've had in a long while. "Won't be going anywhere else again." Honour Garden on St Vincent Road completes the top five. Honour Garden (Image: Google) It was hailed as the "cheapest in the Port" with "great tasty large portions." One reviewer said: "This is by far my favourite Chinese spot in Newport, no regrets at all, I totally recommend. "The food is amazing, customer service is top notch, very clean and hygienic environment, totally affordable and you get whatever you ask for. "I give it a 20/10 rating."
The Herald Scotland
13 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
May jobs report shows 139,000 jobs were added last month
Before the report's release, economists surveyed by Bloomberg estimated that 125,000 jobs were added last month. Job gains for March and April were revised down by a combined 95,000, portraying a weaker labor market that believed in late winter and early spring. March's total was downgraded from 185,000 to 120,000 and April's, from 177,000 to 147,000. Is the job market good or bad right now? The labor market has held up remarkably well despite the hurdles posed by Trump's economic policies, with employment gains averaging well over 100,000 a month so far this year. But many forecasters reckoned a more pronounced hiring slowdown took shape in May and would intensify in the months ahead. Trump's trade strategy lies at the center of the projected downshift. He paused the high double-digit tariffs he slapped on dozens of countries in April and in May agreed to slash levies on Chinese imports from 145% to a still-elevated 30%. China agreed to broadly similar concessions. But the moves hinge on further U.S. deals with China and other countries. And 25% tariffs remain in effect on all imported cars and many goods from Canada and Mexico. This week, Trump hiked fees on steel and aluminum imports to 50% from 25%. And while a trade court last month struck down many of Trump's tariffs, they remain in effect during an appeal, prolonging the uncertainty for businesses. Economists expect the duties to reignite inflation within a month or two and dampen consumer spending. The costs also have heightened business uncertainty, curtailing hiring and investment. How many federal employees are laid off? The Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency has cut as many as 120,000 federal jobs but many workers have been placed on administrative leave, leaving them on U.S. payrolls pending court cases, Morgan Stanley said in a report. Still, the reductions have started to filter into the jobs numbers. Goldman Sachs estimates federal employment declined by a relatively modest 10,000 in May, adding to the 26,000 government workers that Capital Economics says already have been chopped since February. Are there still immigrants coming to America? Besides toughening enforcement at the southern border, the administration has canceled or declined to renew work permits and other protections for hundreds of thousands of migrants, economist Lydia Boussour of EY-Parthenon wrote in a note to clients. That will likely mean a smaller labor supply that further constrains hiring, especially in industries such as construction and hospitality, she said. Some calendar quirks also could have suppressed employment last month. For technical reasons, a late Easter likely boosted payrolls in April but heralds a lower tally for May as staffing levels returned to normal, Morgan Stanley said. Yet while hiring generally has slowed, other economists figured job growth remained sturdy last month as companies frustrated by labor shortages during the pandemic continued to curtail layoffs. Capital Economics and Barclays both predicted 150,000 jobs gains for May. By the end of the year, however, Barclays believes tariffs, federal layoffs and immigration curbs will slow average monthly job gains to about 75,000.
The Herald Scotland
17 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Lord Sainsbury: Give Glasgow greater devolved powers
"A major challenge which government faces if it wants to increase Scotland's rate of growth is a way to find and support such clusters," he said. "All the evidence from other countries suggests that the only way to effectively support clusters is to do so at a city region level. Read more: "I appreciate in Scotland, unlike in England, metro mayors have not yet been introduced, but if you want to support high-tech clusters, this is something I think you should seriously consider, with Greater Glasgow being given powers similar to those devolved to Greater Manchester and the West Midlands." Lord Sainsbury was speaking at the Creating the Jobs of Tomorrow conference organised by Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, where he was introduced to the stage by former Labour chancellor and prime minister Gordon Brown. Mr Brown said growth and productivity have been perennial problems in the UK and Scotland, with innovation the key to boosting performance. A new study by economist Dan Turner, head of research at the Centre for Progressive Policy, has suggested this could unlock the creation of hundreds of thousands of high-value jobs. "There are huge sources of innovation and inventiveness in Scotland, just as has been traditional in our history," he said. "The question is can we turn that into scalable companies that stay in Scotland, invest in Scotland, create jobs in Scotland, and Dan's study suggests we could create 300,000 jobs in the next 10 years. "That's 300,000 well-paying jobs, 120,000 in the new industries, the spin-offs in terms of the service sector another 180,000 - that is a possibility if we invest in the infrastructure, the skills, and the development necessary to achieve that." Lord David Sainsbury (Image: Nate Cleary) Lord Sainsbury is a Labour peer and served as minister for science and innovation under Mr Brown and his prime ministerial predecessor, Tony Blair, between 1998 and 2006. He was appointed a life peer in 1997. Lord Sainsbury said there are new opportunities for employment and growth in sectors such as quantum computing, artificial intelligence and biotechnology. "There are economists that will argue that it is investment that is the engine of economic growth, but we have to realise today that capital flows easily around the world, and it flows as it has always done, to where the best investment opportunities are created by innovation," Lord Sainsbury said. "You can sit in London today and you can invest in Silicon Valley, you can invest in practically any country - until recently you could even invest in Chinese venture capital - because that is what modern communication enables you to do. That is why investment is not the real driver of the economy, it's innovation." Among the other speakers was Michael Spence, who won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2001 for his work in the analysis of markets with information imbalances. Read more: "There are two things that [people] associate with Adam Smith correctly," Mr Spence said. "One the 'invisible hand', which is the market system is a reasonably efficient tool for decentralising and allocating resources. "That actually is not the most important thing that Adam Smith said, but it's the one that neo-conservatives remember because they elevate market systems to the status of a religion, rather than a way of accomplishing economic and social goals. The most important one for our purposes is specialisation. "Adam Smith meant specialisation within an economy, when of course everything that David Sainsbury talked about in the global economy is just the Adam Smith insight writ large, and of course it is the ultimate source of growth. "Without specialisation you don't get scale of spread your activity over too much territory, and you don't get innovation. You get nothing if everybody has to do everything. "The fundamental message I want to deliver today is that's still true, and that growth is fundamentally about specialisation and structural change."
