Plane sales stall as US shutdown continues

[DALLAS] Eni, Italy's biggest energy company, has a group of 10 Houston business people waiting to buy its Dassault Aviation Falcon 2000 jet. What it doesn't have is the US paperwork needed to sell the plane.

The partial government shutdown entering its 11th day last Friday is keeping the purchasers from closing a deal with Rome-based Eni valued at about US$5 million, said Bob Nygren, a founder of aircraft broker AeroSmith Penny in Houston. Eni has stashed the twin-engine Falcon at a suburban Dallas airport.

Executive jets aren't the only ones being sidelined. Hundreds of sales from vendors as varied as Airbus SAS and individuals are stalled as the Federal Aviation Administration's aircraft-registration office remains shuttered. Titles for US$2.5 billion of jetliners, small planes and helicopters may be in limbo if the shutdown continues.