Best-Selling Private Jets

As the rich get richer, private jet travel is bigger than ever. Which planes are most popular with today’s tycoons?
By Douglas MacMillan


Private jet sales are flying high. In 2006 a total of 885 business jets were shipped worldwide, up 18% over the year before, and 185% more than 10 years earlier. A steady stream of wealthy executives looking to avoid the hassles of commercial flight is driving sales in charter companies, fractional ownership programs, and of wholly owned planes. What’s more, most jets purchased in 2006 have seen an increase in market value, a rarity for the industry.

Cessna Aircraft, of Wichita, Kan., had the lion’s share of sales in 2006, delivering record numbers of its popular Citation XLS, Citation Sovereign, CJ2, and CJ3 models. Jets made by Gulfstream, Bombardier, Raytheon, and Dassault round out this slide show of the best-selling models of 2006.

Notes: All rankings based on sales for 2006. 2006 MSRP and current used value estimations are provided by industry price guide Vref. Sales data obtained from the General Aviation Manufacturers Assn.
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