New shipments of planes fall for 2009

The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) has reported that shipments of new planes has fallen by 45.9 per cent for the first half of this year. There were a total of just 1,036 planes delivered for the first six months compared to 1,918 for the same time frame in 2008, bringing down industrial billing by 22.7 per cent.

In a recent news release by GAMA president Pete Bunce, he said that the short fall in deliveries was leading to more layoffs as the industry was having to slow or halt production lines. The largest decline in plane deliveries were the piston powered type which fell by a massive 58 per cent, turboprop planes fell by more than 13 per cent and delivery of private business style jets fell by almost 38 per cent.

Although the overall numbers are down some airlines are increasing orders of planes for the next few years. Budget airlines are the biggest shoppers as their passenger numbers continue to grow and they introduce new routes, which transfers into plane orders. Aeroflot are another airline that is ordering new planes to replace the current Tupolev fleet they use. A spokesperson for Aeroflot said that they are changing the fleet gradually to Boeings and Airbuses because they are more economical on fuel than their soviet aircraft.

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