As soon as its first owner departs from the manufacturer’s delivery center, a new airplane technically becomes used (or preowned). For various reasons, however, 10 years after an aircraft’s final production date is generally considered the ­milestone separating “newer” used business aircraft from “older” ones. 

In deciding which ­aircraft to cover, we went well past this 10-year mark to ­provide ­information on all business airplanes and helicopters manufactured since 1997. This means our list includes some models manufactured before that year, as long as they were still being produced as recently as 1997. As a rule, a long production run is indicative of a successful aircraft. 

We have not listed new models that, at press time, had yet to receive final certification.