Large private planes favorite among China´s rich – Rupert Hoogewerf

China´s super rich focus on the larger private planes, not the relative smaller ones, says China-rich list founder Rupert Hoogewerf in the South China Morning Post. “If we liken it to cars, they’re buying Porsches first and later considering Audis,” Hoogewerf said.”

The South China Morning Post:

China’s super-rich still favour large models of private jets, although industry executives see a shift in buyers’ attitudes towards owning planes for their practical usefulness rather than status.

The latest Business Jets and Hurun China Rich List 2015, published by Hurun Report, said that 28 of the top 100 wealthiest people owned 41 private jets. Li Hejun, founder of thin-film solar group Hanergy, has two, as does home appliance maker Midea’s co-founder, He Xiangjian.

Eight, or nearly a third, of the owners are based in Beijing, owning a total of nine jets. Guangdong is the next private jet hotspot, with seven people owning eight planes, the report said.

Prices for the 41 business jets varied from 30 million yuan (US$4.8 million) to 500 million yuan. Of them, only three are medium-sized and there are no small ones. The G550, made by leading aerospace company Gulfstream, is the most popular model, with 19, followed by six from Canadian manufacturer Bombardier and three made by France’s Dassault.

Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman of Hurun Report, said he believed that actual private jet ownership among the 100 richest people should be higher, given the latest research by the Asian Sky Group that found there are altogether 297 business jets on the mainland.

“Compared with the Europe and America, large-sized jets occupy the majority of the market in China … If we liken it to cars, they’re buying Porsches first and later considering Audis,” Hoogewerf said.