NetJets to buy 425 new aircraft NetJets, which sells ownership shares in business jets, is buying up to 425 new aircraft worth $9.6bn in what the company has described as the biggest deal in the history of private aviation. The company, owned by Berkshire Hathaway, said it would buy up to 275 midsized aircraft from Bombardier of Canada, the world's third-biggest aircraft-maker after Boeing and Airbus, and 150 from Cessna, the Kansas-based company that is the biggest manufacturer of business jets. The purchase represents a big bet on growth in private air travel, in spite of uncertainty about the fate of the global economy amid continuing woes in the eurozone. "This purchase demonstrates our long-term planning," said Jordan Hansell, NetJets chairman and chief executive. The corporate aviation sector was hit hard by the economic downturn, both because of the slump in demand and the reluctance of many top executives to be seen to be flying in private jets while their companies were struggling. Sales of corporate aircraft have slumped in recent years. In 2008, 518 new business jets were delivered in the US, 310 in Europe and 245 in the rest of the world. Last year, that slipped to 321 deliveries in the US, 123 in Europe and 204 in the rest of the world, according to Ascend, an aerospace consultancy. However, manufacturers of business jets are braced for a boom as business picks up across the world. Cessna forecasts that it will deliver more than 3,500 corporate jets by the end of the decade, while Bombardier expects to deliver nearly 1,900 business aircraft. As companies return to using private jets, they may prefer to buy partial ownership of aircraft before making outright purchases themselves. That should benefit NetJets, which is a leading force in the "fractional ownership" industry, enabling businesses and wealthy individuals to take part-ownership in aircraft. Customers can also buy a card, entitling them to a certain number of flight hours. NetJets also offers pilots and other services such as aircraft management and maintenance. The company was founded in 1986 and was bought by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway in 1998. The company has placed 100 firm orders for Bombardier aircraft and has options for 175 more, with deliveries scheduled to begin in 2014. NetJets said it had placed 25 firm orders for Cessna Citation Latitudes and had options for a further 125, with deliveries of that model beginning in 2016.