Want a great big VIP jet? You’ve got company

updated 5:29 p.m. ET Nov. 22, 2006

SEATTLE - When Miami Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga used to fly in style, his Gulfstream jet had room for only a dozen or so guests. Now his private jet of choice fits more than twice that many passengers in a cabin that would seat almost 150 as a commercial airliner.

Whether flying to one of his team’s road games or hopping over the Atlantic to treat his buddies to a golfing tour in Ireland, the billionaire businessman is among a growing number of corporate executives and uber-rich A-listers who have gotten hooked on flying in the comfort of their very own, very large planes modeled after the aircraft flown by commercial airlines.

Huizenga doesn’t consider his $41 million Boeing Business Jet a luxurious toy. He sees it as a sound investment that’s paid off with a generous boost in business productivity.

“I had six public companies at one time,” Huizenga said in a recent interview from his office in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. “The employees, the management team — they get so much more done in a shorter amount of time. ... I realize it’s expensive, but I think you make it up because you get more deals done, you do more things in a given week than you would otherwise.”

In the first nine months of this year, worldwide shipments of business jets jumped more than 20 percent over the same period last year to nearly 630 aircraft, according to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, a trade group based in Washington, D.C.

Boeing Co. and Airbus SAS make the largest business jets on the market, modeling them off narrow-body aircraft — in Boeing’s case, the 737, for Airbus the A318, A319 and A320. However the vast majority of business jets sold each year are smaller models like Bombardier Inc.’s Learjet and Cessna Aircraft Co.’s Citation.

Small to mid-sized business jets have enjoyed an even bigger bump in sales and shipments over the past two years than their bigger cousins, based on data from the General Aviation Manufacturers Association.

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Industry insiders say VIP jet sales have heated up in the last few years as an improving global economy has pulled commercial airlines out of the industrywide slump that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The improving economy has also forced business leaders to fly more often and over longer distances than in the past.

“If you’re an executive and you need to visit several sites ... especially today with all the security hassles, it could easily take you a couple days to visit a couple of places,” said David Velupillai, a marketing manager for Airbus’ executive and private aviation unit. “But in a biz jet you could do both in the same day.”

Another offshoot of the improving economy: a longer list of people who can afford to think big when they’re shopping for a private plane.

Boeing sold 14 business jets last year — more than the previous two years combined. It’s sold 10 so far this year and expects to announce more sales by the end of the year, said Steven Hill, president of Boeing Business Jets, a Seattle-based joint venture Boeing formed with General Electric Co. 10 years ago.

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