“The fight for the rapidly growing domestic bizav market in Russia has only just begun”

Like any industry exhibition of comparable size, JetExpo is a sensitive gauge of the situation on the Russian bizav market. Although the demand for business charters picked up again in 2011, the market in general is only just recovering from economic recession. Evgeny Bakhtin, Vice-President of Russian United Business Aviation Association (RUBAA), told Show Observer about the radical changes which took place in Russian business aviation last year.

— How was last year for business aviation, in Russia and globally?

— The year was not an easy one for everyone. The US market, this powerhouse of global business aviation, was stagnating due to the unstable economic situation in that region. Sales of US-made business aircraft were generally observed to drop, for the exception of the higher-priced models such as the Boeing BBJ, Gulfstream 550 and Global Express. Hawker Beechcraft was especially hard hit, eventually filing for Chapter 11 protection. The European Union’s move to impose VAT on private aircraft considerably throttled the already moderate enthusiasm of potential business jet buyers in Europe.