Operator Overview – Business Jet Fleet Report YE 2020

The top 20 Asia-Pacific business jet operators had a total of 421 business jets in operation as of year-end 2020. Together, these operators accounted for 34% of the total business jet fleet in the region. Amongst the “Big Five” operators, Sino Jet, with a fleet of 47 aircraft, was the largest business jet operator for the second year in a row. TAG Aviation and BAA came in second and third, with fleets of 43 and 41 business jets, respectively.

In 2020, BAA experienced the largest increase in its fleet (by ten aircraft), followed by Jet Aviation (four). Amber Aviation, Australian Corporate Jet Centres (ACJC) and Phenix Jet also saw notable increases – all growing by three units in 2020. Although this change did not have any effect on Amber and ACJC’s rank, it did help Phenix Jet jump seven ranks – the largest ranking change of any Asia-Pacific operator.

There are six operators among the top 20 operators that are seeing continued year-on-year growth, with their fleets increasing for three consecutive years. They are Sino Jet, Asian Corporate Aviation Management (ACAM), ACJC, Amber Aviation, Phenix Jet and Brilliant Jet – while Sino Jet is the only “Big Five” operator to see consecutive fleet growth. Amber Aviation, with a fleet of 15 business jets, has also seen solid growth since its launch, successfully expanding its fleet every year.

The total fleet operated by the top 20 operators increased by 18 aircraft in the past year – from 403 in 2019 to 421 in 2020, an increase of nearly 4%. Of the top 20 operators in the region, 14 were based, or primarily operated, in Greater China.

Only operators that added two more aircraft and had a growth rate of above 5% are shown in the graph.

Top Operators in Each Country

Australia, with 211 business jets, had the second largest fleet in the Asia-Pacific region in 2020. With the acquisition of JetCity’s fleet, Australian Corporate Jet Centres operated the largest business jet fleet in Australia – 15, in 2020.

Reliance Commercial Dealers was the largest operator in India – operating a fleet of ten aircraft. Club One Air, which was the joint largest operator in India along with Reliance Commercial Dealers till 2019, saw a reduction in its fleet by two units. It is currently the second largest operator in the country, with a fleet of eight aircraft.

Phenix Jet, with a fleet of 12 jets, remained the largest business jet operator in Japan in 2020. Aero Asahi and Noevir Aviation were the joint-second biggest non-government operators, each with a fleet of three business jets at year-end 2020.

Philippine operators did not witness any major changes in fleet size during 2020, with the fleet of the top 10 operators remaining unchanged. Asian Aerospace and Challenger Aero Air remained the largest operators in the Philippines, each operating a fleet of six business jets.

With a fleet of seven aircraft, Malaysian operator Redland Aviation remained the largest non-government operator in the country in 2020. ExecuJet came next with a fleet of five based in Malaysia, up by one since year-end 2019. Smooth Route, with a fleet of four, dropped one rank in 2020 and was the third largest non-government operator.

South Korean operator Korean Air’s fleet reduced by four aircraft in 2020 with the permanent removal from service of four Cessna Citation 560 Ultras. The four Citations had been used as training aircraft by Korean Air’s flight academy but fell out of favour when a pair of Citation CJ1s were delivered several years ago. Despite the decrease in fleet numbers, Korean Air remained the largest operator in South Korea with a fleet of five aircraft. SK Telecom was the second largest operator in the country – with a fleet of three aircraft.

Thai operator MJets operated a fleet of six aircraft in 2020, unchanged from the previous year, and was the largest non-government operator in Thailand.