Buying a pre-owned private jet or business jet: the steps from brief to delivery

Buying a pre-owned private jet or business jet generally takes three to nine months from the start of the search to delivery. Most of that time goes on inspecting the aircraft and on the work around its title. The steps themselves do not change, and the order in which they are taken decides what protects you.

Our business aviation acquisitions work covers the search and the introduction: we present an aircraft that meets your brief, then introduce you to its seller. Negotiation, contract and closing are then conducted between you and the seller, with the advisers you appoint. The steps below are the ones you will take, from the first brief to delivery.

Who helps you buy a pre-owned business jet

Buying a business jet brings together five or six parties, each at a given stage. None replaces the others, and their independence from one another is what protects you.

• The intermediary, a broker or an introducer, conducts the search, filters the market against your mission, presents the aircraft that meet it and introduces you to the seller. This is the stage at which we work.
• The aviation lawyer drafts the letter of intent and the purchase agreement, and negotiates their terms.
• The technical consultant and the inspection facility, independent of the seller and experienced on the type, review the maintenance records and then the aircraft itself.
• The escrow and title agent, also independent, holds the deposit and the funds, checks the title and has any liens discharged at closing.
• The tax adviser deals with VAT, customs, the choice of register and the ownership structure.
• The insurer and, where relevant, the management company come in before delivery: the aircraft does not move without insurance, and an operator takes on crew and maintenance if you place the aircraft with one.

This team is put together before the search begins.

Defining the mission before you buy a private jet

Everything starts with use: how many passengers you usually carry, where you fly, how often, and whether the aircraft will be chartered out when you are not using it. That profile then filters the entire search. It rules out from the start any aircraft more complex than the mission requires, a common mistake among first-time buyers, as is buying on brand or on impulse.

The question of ownership itself arises at this stage. Operators put the threshold at around 200 flight hours a year; below it, a jet card gives access to an aircraft without carrying its fixed costs.

The budget goes beyond the price of the aircraft. It covers advisers’ fees, the inspection and the correction of its findings, escrow and title, legal costs, registration and taxes, and it is costed before the letter of intent.

Buying a new or a pre-owned private jet

A new aircraft is ordered from the manufacturer, against a production slot: allow six to eighteen months or more before delivery, depending on the model and the degree of customisation. It arrives under the manufacturer’s warranty, in a configuration of your choosing and with no history to check.

A pre-owned aircraft can be delivered within a few months, and its value has already absorbed part of the depreciation of the early years. It is judged, on the other hand, on its history: hours and cycles, engine cover under a maintenance programme, declared damage, completeness of the logbooks, upcoming heavy checks. Two aircraft of the same model and year can therefore command very different prices.

Buying a pre-owned aircraft follows a set order, described in the sections below: the market price, the letter of intent, the inspection, then closing.

Pre-owned private jet prices: what the 2026 figures show

Published prices are asking prices, in US dollars, across the world market. According to AMSTAT, at the end of June 2026 the average asking price of a pre-owned light jet was US$2.5 million, that of a midsize jet US$2.8 million, a super-midsize US$7.4 million and a heavy jet US$10.5 million. Turboprops averaged US$2.1 million.

JETNET’s figures for December 2025 point the same way: US$10.73 million for heavy, long-range and ultra-long-range jets, against US$14.06 million in July 2025, a fall of 23.7 per cent; US$4.50 million for midsize and super-midsize jets together; US$2.70 million for light jets. A heavy jet stayed on the market for 272 days on average, a light jet for 418, a midsize or super-midsize for 470.

These averages call for careful reading. They are pulled down by older aircraft: in JETNET’s data, the average year of manufacture of aircraft for sale falls in the early 2000s, and a recent aircraft costs considerably more. AMSTAT notes that asking prices are falling because older aircraft remain on the market, while median values are rising: recent aircraft are in demand and sell faster.

The market is tight. Again according to AMSTAT, 6.5 per cent of the active jet fleet was for sale at the end of June 2026, against a ten-year average of 8.1 per cent, and only 5.2 per cent of heavy jets; pre-owned sales rose by 6 per cent in the first half of the year. The mission needs to be settled before you look at listings: it is what allows you to judge an aircraft quickly when one comes up.

Letter of intent, deposit and escrow

Pre-owned aircraft are generally sold ‘as is, where is’. It is therefore the letter of intent that must require, at delivery, an airworthy aircraft, maintenance up to date, complete records and no undisclosed damage of any kind. Your protection is written at this point, before the inspection, not after it.

The letter also sets the proposed price, the amount of the deposit, the location and scope of the inspection, the delivery conditions and the timetable. It is generally binding on neither party, apart from a few standard clauses, and is most often drafted by a specialist lawyer.

The deposit is placed with an independent escrow agent. It is ordinarily 5 to 10 per cent of the price, depending on the seller and the aircraft, and the buyer seeks to keep it refundable until the technical inspection is complete.

The purchase agreement then makes the deal binding. It sets the inspection timetable, the period for rectification work, the closing date, how findings are dealt with and the exit points should the deal stall. Depending on the case, it is signed before or after the inspection; when it comes first, its deadlines frame the inspection.

The pre-buy inspection of a private jet

The pre-buy inspection is your main protection. The aircraft is flown to a facility agreed between the parties, independent of the seller and experienced on the type. For most jets it takes two to three weeks, longer if the findings call for work.

The facility delivers a list of discrepancies, each with the cost of putting it right. The seller normally corrects anything affecting airworthiness. The rest is negotiated, as a price reduction or as repairs before delivery, or becomes a reason to walk away. Three outcomes are then open: accept the aircraft, reject it, or accept it subject to conditions.

The list also reads as a history. It shows how previous owners looked after the aircraft, and therefore what it will cost to own. Cutting the inspection short to save a few days remains a common mistake among first-time buyers. What it should cover, and who should carry it out, is set out in our article on the business jet pre-buy inspection.

Two questions belong in this phase. Is the aircraft enrolled on an hourly engine maintenance programme, and which one? Such a programme charges the owner a fixed rate per engine hour, which builds a reserve for overhauls, and it bears directly on the aircraft’s value. Does that cover pass to the buyer? The question is put to the seller and checked with your advisers.

Once the work is done, an acceptance flight checks performance and the operation of the systems, and the buyer signs the technical acceptance.

Closing, registration and delivery of the aircraft

Before closing, a title search identifies any liens on the aircraft. On the day, the escrow agent releases the funds and has those liens discharged. Under the American model, the agent also files the bill of sale and the registration with the authority; in Europe, the process depends on the register chosen and is defined with your advisers. Insurance is in place before the aircraft moves. If the purchase is financed, the lender registers an international interest on the registry set up under the Cape Town Convention. These steps are covered in detail in our article on aircraft escrow, title and registration.

An aircraft can be registered in only one State, under Article 18 of the Chicago Convention. The choice of register has lasting tax and regulatory consequences, as do the place where the aircraft is released for free circulation in the European Union and the structure that owns it. These questions are settled with your tax adviser and your lawyer, before the letter of intent rather than on the eve of closing. The transaction is also subject to anti-money-laundering obligations.

When the aircraft changes country, the order matters: closing, technical acceptance, deregistration from the previous register, an export certificate of airworthiness (EASA Form 27 within the European Union), the ferry flight, then registration on the new register.

Then comes entry into service: conformity inspections, insurance activated, crew recruited and trained, and a management agreement if the aircraft is placed with an operator. Closing without a plan for management, crew and insurance is among the common mistakes. Once the aircraft is delivered, chauffeurs and ground transfers are part of our Transport & Mobility service.

Conclusion

From accepted offer to closing, allow 30 to 90 days in most cases; from the first search to delivery, three to nine months. That timetable holds when the mission is settled before the search and your advisers are in place before the letter of intent.

We present the aircraft and introduce its seller. Your lawyer, your inspection facility and your escrow agent protect you from there, each at their own stage.