Thanks to a rebound on the lighter end, the business jet market is improving, but remains weak, according to the latest monthly business jet market index released today by UBS Global Research. The index rose 10 percent from last month, to 34, which is the second sequential increase since it bottomed at a record low of 29 in May. An index score below 50 denotes weak market conditions.

By cabin size, the light-jet index is the highest at 43, a 34-percent increase from a month ago, followed by midsize jets at 31 (down 5 percent) and large-cabin jets at 28 (up 3 percent). UBS’s straight-up measure of absolute business conditions was flat at 4.3.

Available pre-owned business jet inventories were roughly unchanged sequentially last month at 11.2 percent of the installed base, which is below the historical average of 13 percent, said UBS aerospace analysts David Strauss and Darryl Genovesi. Inventory levels of very young (five years old or less) pre-owned jets inched up to 7 percent of the installed base, while young jets (six to 10 years old) decreased slightly to 10 percent of the in-service fleet.

Both very young and young business jet inventories “look to have stabilized after recent increases, although young jet inventories remain near all-time highs on an absolute basis,” according to Strauss and Genovesi.