The first online marketplace connecting buyers of business and general aviation aircraft with specialist aviation financiers has been launched at the show by US asset management company AirFinance.
“We are in the world’s largest business and GA aircraft market to build awareness of the FlyFunder brand,” the initiative’s co-founder and investor Paul Sykes said at the show.
He describes the website as “an intuitive, closed-network marketplace for those seeking finance for aircraft to confidentially announce lending opportunities to the global financing community”.
According to FlyFunder, there are currently about 2,400 preowned business jets for sale, with an average price tag of $6.4 million, or collectively $15.6 billion. “We can provide an invaluable service to this market,” says Sykes, who is also senior manager with AirFinance.
Once a funding request is submitted, financiers can make contact with the buyer, who will then “discover an array of aircraft funding options”, he adds.
FlyFunder had its beta launch on 8 September and 15 new deals, with a value of about $100 million, are now listed on the site. “This is just the
beginning. The marketplace has the potential to be huge,” says Sykes.
He expects FlyFunder to fill what he calls a “communication and connection void” between specialist aviation financiers, aircraft buyers, manufacturers – who are often reliant on financing to make their sale – and brokers seeking to sell used aircraft.
“FlyFunder is disruptive technology for the business and GA aircraft market,” Sykes claims. “Travelocity, Expedia and Priceline helped the airline industry treble passenger revenue miles in five years. Uber and AirBnB have had a similar impact in their core industries. We expect FlyFunder to revolutionise the business and GA finance market in the same way. The opportunity is significant.”
Source: Flight Daily News
