The business jet market in North America continues to recover, while in Western Europe it is “off the bottom,” UBS Global Research aerospace analysts noted yesterday. “Bizjet deliveries into North America have grown modestly in each of the last several years and we anticipate further improvement in [this region] driven by pent-up corporate replacement demand,” they said.

First-quarter deliveries of business jets, excluding very light jets, climbed by 23 percent year-over-year. By world region, first-quarter shipments of business jets rose the highest in Latin America, up 54 percent, followed by North America (+36 percent), China/India (+13 percent) and Western Europe (+5 percent). This was partially offset by a 56-percent decline in deliveries to other Asia-Pacific countries, according to the UBS data. On a rolling 12-month basis, global deliveries are 4 percent higher, led by 11-percent growth in North America and with Western Europe also “slightly higher.”

By aircraft categories, large-cabin jets are now about 10 percent above the prior peak, climbing 11 percent in the first quarter versus the same period a year ago. Shipments of light jets were up 67 percent, while midsize cabin deliveries declined 3 percent, UBS said. On a rolling 12-month basis, light jet deliveries are up 7 percent; large-cabin jets up 13 percent; and midsize jets down 20 percent.