To the casual observer business aviation might appear immune to the vagaries of fluctuations in costs; if you can afford a private jet or helicopter in the first place then you are hardly going to be too concerned about the price of fuel, it might be argued.

And if you are lucky enough to be numbered amongst the super-rich then maybe that is true. But for the majority of business aircraft owners the economics of operation are of enormous significance. In fact, the importance of stability in the price of fuel as far as business aircraft operators are concerned can hardly be overestimated. Even a relatively small percentage increase might deter the charter customer, or put the corporate aircraft’s economics in question, or simply wipe out the element of profit in any operation.

In the past we have been used to price fluctuations through political instability and changes in taxation, for example. And we have been able to weather the variations in price from location to location. Prices have risen, then fallen; there have been good times and bad.

But now there are new, long-term worries on the horizon: How long will oil stocks last? Are there really not enough oil refineries? And what happens when some of them are put out of action by natural disaster? How will there ever be enough oil to support the huge economic growth throughout Asia?

Increasing demand will always increase prices, and the biggest consumers will be hardest hit. That is why the commercial airlines are the most worried of all. They will already spend some $97 billion on fuel in 2005 according to IATA – more than double the cost in 2003. Some freighter operators have imposed fuel surcharges, and some passenger giants have hit financial difficulties.

Others have reduced frequencies to improve load factors, or are looking to the future and choosing to order turboprop aircraft rather than jets. They reason that you can’t beat the market price of fuel, so the only way to economise is to use less of it.

Business aircraft owners buy far less fuel and so are even less able to buck the markets, so should they be thinking along the same lines? There is certainly a case for it: If an eight-seat twin turboprop (and let’s name no names here) burns 91 gallons per hour then it will require about 350 gallons to complete a 1,000 mile trip; a similarly-sized business jet will consume around 450 gallons on the same route. Of course there are advantages – not least the greater speed of the jet – but at what price does the increased fuel burn begin to outweigh these? This is something which only the market can decide.

The motor car manufacturers are finally taking the whole issue seriously, with hybrid or alternative fuel cars finally coming out of the laboratories and into the mainstream. It is surely not beyond the wit of man or the ingenuity of engineers to find similar technology shifts for aircraft.

So now we are polishing our comfortable shoes in readiness for the greatest shop-window for business aviation, the NBAA Convention in Orlando. It will be very interesting to see how the aircraft manufacturers are reacting to the changing world environment.

Perhaps their marketing materials will place more emphasis on the fuel economy of their latest offerings than before, with real-world costings under as much scrutiny as speed, comfort and technology.

We should hope so because modern aircraft, whether jets or turboprops, with modern engines burn less fuel than their predecessors. The need to save fuel could be an important factor in promoting the uptake of the latest generation of aircraft.