First-quarter 2011 business jet and turboprop sales and retail transactions were positive, according to data providers Amstat and JetNet. “There are a lot of promising trends here,” wrote Amstat executive v-p Tom Benson in the company’s latest market update report. About 14.2 percent of the worldwide business aviation jet fleet is for sale, down from 14.7 percent three months ago. The turboprop fleet dropped to 11.6 percent from 11.9 percent. During the first quarter of 2011, 2.4 percent of the active worldwide business jet fleet changed hands, he noted, which is low compared with the 3.3-percent historical average, but the same for the fourth quarter of 2010. “It’s still a very difficult market–maybe better than a year ago–but still tough.” JetNet reported business jet sale transactions climbing 17.3 percent in this year’s first quarter, compared with the same period last year. And turboprop sale transactions rose 10.8 percent during the first quarter of this year. “All the leading indicators in the pre-owned business jet market are showing early-stage recovery signs,” JetNet’s first-quarter pre-owned market report explained, “except for continued softness in average asking price. We have noted that the business jet average asking price is down by one-third in the first quarter of 2011 compared to the first quarter of 2010.”