newstodate.aero
MAY 25, 2004 (newstodate): Technically there is an abundance of aircraft capacity in the segment with up to 60 seats, but there is currently a shortage of available aircraft in the European market.
-Many operators have been forced out of business recently, leaving many aircraft like ATRs with the leasing companies. Thus even if there is technically speaking an abundant supply, the availability in the European market has become a limiting factor, says a European airline source.
The situation is further aggravated, he says, by the fact that many of these redundant aircraft are taken by operators in the USA and the Far East, also contributing to a shortage in the European markets, while aircraft leasing rates are increasing again after a sustained period of downturn.
Part of the turmoil, he says, is caused by numerous under-financed upstarts among low-cost enterprises that thrived on the low aircraft leasing rates but have not been able to sustain their business after their initial market introduction.
-Many operators have been forced out of business recently, leaving many aircraft like ATRs with the leasing companies. Thus even if there is technically speaking an abundant supply, the availability in the European market has become a limiting factor, says a European airline source.
The situation is further aggravated, he says, by the fact that many of these redundant aircraft are taken by operators in the USA and the Far East, also contributing to a shortage in the European markets, while aircraft leasing rates are increasing again after a sustained period of downturn.
Part of the turmoil, he says, is caused by numerous under-financed upstarts among low-cost enterprises that thrived on the low aircraft leasing rates but have not been able to sustain their business after their initial market introduction.