It is difficult to write a fitting introduction for the best business aviation conference of the year! 60 hours of networking, discussions, learning, debating, sharing, laughing and perhaps sleeping; it can only be CJI London 2025.

Our team were there and here are our bitesize takeaways:

Europe: a problem child?

A recurring suggestion from several panel discussions was a depressed European market. The rational was a perceived reduction in sales, overbearing regulation and a political belief that business aviation is unsustainable and anti-green.

The politics were highlighted by Holger Krahmer of EBAA who noted Europe’s position as a world leader in sustainability was pointless if the rest of the world was not interested. A feeling of European isolation was increased by the ‘drill baby, drill’ mentality getting suddenly louder in the international arena.

A survey of aircraft owners by TAG Aviation revealed that most owners felt their environmental impact was important but not their priority. Moreover, those owners felt a focus on the sustainability of business aircraft was a distraction; business aviation is a tool – their focus was making their own business sustainable as the impact was much greater.

Several presenters called Europe the ‘problem child’ in comparison to the growing markets in the Middle East, India and Asia. Their focus appeared to be on the current number of sales rather than the business aviation machine (operations, FBO’s, maintenance, service) which operates continuously in the background.

The sceptical (or perhaps naive and hopeful) argument is there are both short-term vs long-term views on the profitability of business aviation in Europe. While Europe may not be as buoyant as it was 2 years ago, this does not that mean it is depressed. This view was supported by the figures provided by ARGUS which showed Europe as the second largest aviation market by movement, and its activity was expected to be ahead of North America in 2025.

A cynic may suggest that calling Europe a problem child could be an excuse for a lack of the easy, quick sales of 2022. Or perhaps it is the lack of compliance and red tape in neighbouring jurisdictions. Whatever the reason, Europe is still a key player in business aviation even if the number of sales may be larger than the amount of purchases in the short term.

Suck, squeeze, bang, blow

An easy-to-understand description of how an aircraft engine works apparently! 3 extensive panel sessions focused on engines, maintenance and pre-purchase inspections (PPI’s). The important things to remember:

• The hot section of an engine is far more expensive to fix than the cold section.
• Engine programs are still of great value to younger aircraft, however, after 10/15 years of age owners need to consider the value of the programs more carefully.
• The purpose of a PPI is to check the aircraft is in the negotiated delivery condition. If there are any discrepancies these need to be negotiated or rectified. The key is communication and ensuring that all parties know what they are looking for and agree PPI scope at the outset.
• Data is the new borescope for modern aircraft with digital twin and live time maintenance technology.
• If you go looking for a problem when you don’t need to, this can be very costly – you can’t unsee issues once they have been found.
• Read the contract!

Talk is cheap, but digital may not be the only future

Whether it is internally within our industry, to our clients or to the rest of the planet; business aviation must get better at communication.

Many panels and presentations touched upon the difficulty of creating a balance between digitisation and the personal touch. This was further complicated by the new and next generation which use communication methods our generations did not feel lent themselves to relationship building and detailed information exchanges.

The barrier to more successful communications appeared to be generational experience creating a blind spot. When trying to teach the non-business aviation community, specifically those in school or college about the industry and exciting opportunities, the channels of communication are almost alien to those wanting to teach. Online gaming and video social media are only used by a minute fraction of business aviation, and most were only aware because their children or grandchildren had mentioned them.

Another hot topic was how to communicate with those that oppose business aviation because of environmental concerns or a dislike of ‘wealthy people’ using it. While many wanted to shout and argue, the experts in the room explained it is simply not possible to ‘wash the ocean’. Dave Edwards of the Royal Aeronautical Society noted “getting angry or retaliating won’t work – we need to explain what we do and then explain it again”.

Ultimately, we need to communicate to everyone, all the time, and use as many different channels as we can. And we can’t stop – we need to continually enhance our messaging and look for new forms of communication so those we want to target get to hear business aviation’s voice, rather than the nay sayers.

Final advice

A final piece of golden advice from a fantastic presentation by Kindon Stephens of Aerospace Compliance: “never close on a Friday!”

Thank you Corporate Jet Investor 2025; we simply cannot wait for 2026.

It is difficult to write a fitting introduction for the best business aviation conference of the year! 60 hours of networking, discussions, learning, debating, sharing, laughing and perhaps sleeping; it can only be CJI London 2025.