Pre-Owned Business Jet Sales Surged 21% in the First Half of 2026

The market for used private jets kept running hot through the middle of 2026. In its second-quarter market report published on July 28, 2026, the International Aircraft Dealers Association said its members closed 746 pre-owned business aircraft transactions in the first half of the year, up 21% from 616 in the same period of 2025.

A market that keeps accelerating

The momentum built as the year went on. IADA reported 397 transactions in the second quarter, a 32% jump over the 300 deals in the second quarter of 2025, and up from 349 in the first quarter of 2026.

Dealers were not just brokering other people’s aircraft. They bought 118 jets into their own inventory during the first half, an 87% increase over the prior-year period, according to the association. That is a bet that the aircraft will resell quickly.

Sentiment tracked the sales. IADA said dealer confidence in current conditions rose to 3.45 on a five-point scale, up from 3.07 a year earlier, with members reporting “strong demand” and “extremely strong” interest in late-model aircraft across every size category.

Why the used market is so busy

IADA credited a mix of forces: 100% US bonus depreciation, healthy equity markets, acceptable financing, and long delivery backlogs at the factories. That last point is the key link. When new-jet order books stretch past two years, buyers who want to fly sooner turn to the pre-owned market instead.

That squares with what manufacturers are reporting. Textron, for example, cited firm pricing and a multi-year backlog in its latest quarterly results, a sign that new aircraft from builders like Gulfstream and its rivals remain in short, slow supply.

Bonus depreciation matters more than it sounds. It lets a US business deduct an aircraft’s full cost against taxable income in the year of purchase instead of spreading it over several years, and it applies to used jets, not just new ones.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed in July 2025, made that 100% write-off permanent and scrapped a phase-down that would have cut the deduction to 20% in 2026 and to zero in 2027. The catch is a usage test: the aircraft must fly more than 50% for qualified business purposes, or the buyer loses the bonus and drops to slower straight-line depreciation.

How tight the market really is

Only about 6.7% of the global business jet fleet was listed for sale in 2026 year to date, according to data provider JETNET. That is well under the 8% to 10% the industry treats as a balanced market, and far below the 10% to 11% that was normal before the pandemic.

Supply has kept shrinking rather than recovering. Pre-owned inventory fell about 12% year over year in early 2026 even as average asking prices climbed roughly 7%, JETNET figures reported by Aviation International News show. Fewer aircraft chasing more buyers is the definition of a seller’s market.

The scarcity is not spread evenly. Clean, well-maintained late-model jets with current avionics and low-time engines sell fastest and hold premiums, while older aircraft facing expensive maintenance events sit longer. That is why IADA members singled out “extremely strong” demand for late-model aircraft specifically.

Closing a deal still takes real work. A pre-buy inspection, in which the buyer’s technicians examine the airframe and maintenance records before money changes hands, can surface deferred maintenance that reprices or kills a sale. In a tight market, buyers feel pressure to move quickly and inspect thoroughly at the same time.

For anyone weighing whether to buy, charter, or simply fly commercial, the takeaway is that ownership is not getting cheaper. The same supply crunch that keeps used values high is why many travelers compare the full cost of a jet against alternatives before committing. AeroCorner has broken down the leading private jet manufacturers and what air charter actually involves for readers doing that math.