Selling a business jet off-market: how a discreet sale works

A sale without a listing follows the same steps as a listed sale: preparing the aircraft and its records, setting a price, presenting the aircraft, signing a letter of intent, going through the buyer’s inspection, then closing. What changes is the order in which information circulates, and how many people receive it. Each step is decided on your side, with your advisers.

The steps below are seen from where you stand as the owner. What we do when an aircraft is sold is set out on our page on selling a business jet without a listing.

What an off-market sale changes, and what it does not

An aircraft sold off-market is available without being displayed: no listing, no public price, no specification circulated on the marketplaces. You decide who learns of the aircraft, when, and what they are given.

Discretion concerns the advertising of the sale. It does not reduce the buyer’s work: the buyer will carry out the same technical inspection, the same records review, the same title search and the same legal work as for a listed aircraft. Nor does it make the parties anonymous: a transaction of this size may be subject to anti-money laundering obligations, which require the professionals involved to identify the parties.

The consequence for you is direct. An off-market sale has no listing to carry the first contact, and the aircraft’s records take its place. The more complete they are at the outset, the fewer open questions the buyer has when making an offer.

Preparing the aircraft and its records before any presentation

The records are prepared before the first presentation, not during the negotiation. They are the reference for the aircraft’s specification, then for the inspection.

Three points deserve your attention before anything is presented:

• The specification. Installed equipment, maintenance status, upcoming inspections: you read and approve it yourself, because it is what the buyer’s maintenance facility will compare with the aircraft.
• The engine programmes. The status of each engine under its programme, and whether cover can be transferred to the buyer, can weigh on value as much as the airframe hours. The transfer terms are checked with the programme before the presentation, not at closing.
• The next inspections. A scheduled maintenance visit can be timed to coincide with the buyer’s inspection, which avoids taking the aircraft out of service twice. Some sellers also commission their own inspection before the sale, so as to know the findings before the buyer does.

Complete records answer in advance the questions a buyer asks before making an offer: does the aircraft match its specification, what maintenance spending falls due in the months after the sale, will the engine cover go with it? Where an answer is missing, the inspection supplies it, and it does so during the negotiation.

Logbooks and maintenance history are covered in our article on the pre-buy inspection, which shows what the buyer’s maintenance facility will look for in them.

Pricing a private jet without making the price public

The value of a business jet rests on comparable transactions, as recorded by market data providers, and on the documented condition of the aircraft: hours, cycles, engine programmes, damage history, equipment. A price set without a listing is discussed with a few buyers, and does not have to be cut in public if it is revised.

The 2026 market is tight. According to AMSTAT, at the end of June 2026, 6.5% of the active jet fleet was for sale, against a ten-year average of 8.1%. Average asking prices were falling in every category, while median values were rising: older aircraft stay on the market, while recent aircraft sell faster. At the end of 2025, JETNET recorded an average time on the market of 272 to 470 days, depending on the category. These figures describe the market for listed aircraft; they set the context without saying anything about how long a particular sale will take.

Two questions are settled with your advisers before setting a price: is the sale subject to VAT, given the entity that owns the aircraft and the place of delivery, and what tax treatment applies to the proceeds?

Choosing who sees the aircraft, and in what order

A discreet sale proceeds in stages. The first contact is a description of the aircraft that does not allow it to be identified. The aircraft’s identity, its full records and your name follow only later, for a buyer who has shown the ability to buy.

What a buyer usually provides at this stage:

• a confidentiality undertaking, signed before receiving the aircraft’s identity, its records or any information about its owner;
• proof of funds, or confirmation of financing;
• a written statement of intent to buy.

Nothing requires you to present the aircraft to several buyers at once, or to release the full records before a first offer. When several buyers come forward, the question of sequence is decided with your advisers.

From letter of intent to closing: the seller’s side

The letter of intent sets the proposed price, the amount of the deposit and its placing in escrow, the location and scope of the inspection, and the delivery conditions. The purchase agreement then makes it binding. For you, the scope of the inspection is the main issue: an inspection wider than announced, an extensive corrosion search on an older aircraft for instance, can open up work that nothing had suggested.

The escrow deposit matters on your side too. It returns to the buyer only in the cases provided for in the letter of intent, usually until the inspection is complete. Beyond that, what happens to it depends on the escrow agreement and the purchase agreement, to be settled with your lawyer.

The warranty you give on the aircraft’s condition is settled at the same point. In the United States, pre-owned aircraft are generally sold as is, where is, with no warranty from the seller after delivery; that is not the norm everywhere, and in some countries the seller is expected to warrant the aircraft’s condition. In Europe and the United Kingdom, sellers often ask for insurance covering their liability for a period after the sale. This is settled with your lawyer and your insurer.

After the inspection, the usual arrangement is as follows: the buyer pays for the inspection, you take responsibility for defects that affect airworthiness, and the rest is negotiated. The line between an airworthiness defect and a cosmetic preference is agreed in writing before the inspection. Without that, the report becomes a tool for lowering the price. Corrosion, landing gear cycle limits and engine programme compliance are frequent points of friction.

If the aircraft is financed, your lender provides a payoff statement fixed at a date; under the American model, the escrow agent repays the loan out of the price before paying you the balance. For an aircraft on the French register, deregistration requires the discharge of the rights recorded against it: a mortgage must be released by its creditor.

The closing location, the governing law, and who pays for ferry flights and the export certificate of airworthiness are settled at the letter of intent stage. Escrow, the title search and a change of register are covered in our article on escrow, title and registration.

Conclusion

Selling a business jet without a listing removes none of the steps of a sale. Discretion applies to publicity, and the aircraft’s records do the work a listing would do. Your protection is written into the letter of intent, before the inspection.

When you wish to sell your aircraft without a listing, our business introduction work covers finding the buyer and introducing them to you.