What Aerista does

Aerista is a privately held pre-owned aircraft brokerage headquartered at Portland-Troutdale Airport in Troutdale, Oregon. The company specializes in the sale and acquisition of high-performance piston and light turbine aircraft across six model lines: Cirrus SR Series, Cirrus Vision Jet, Diamond, Pilatus PC-12, Cessna Citation, and Carbon Cub. Aerista self-describes as the world's largest pre-owned aircraft brokerage, citing $1.75B in cumulative transaction volume and 320 sales and acquisitions completed in 2024. The company operates through ten regional sales offices — nine across the US and one in Rheinmuenster, Germany — supported by a small core team and a contract-style Aircraft Sales Associate model.

The core technology stack centers on AeristaMetrics™, a proprietary trademarked database that captures real-time marketplace conditions, comparable transactions, and pricing trends to inform buyer and seller decisions. Adjacent products include AeristaPedia™ (an informational knowledge base on aircraft models) and Escrow Sync (a transaction synchronization service for closings). The platform is delivered through a standard WordPress website with no exposed API or developer portal, and there is no evidence of mobile applications, machine-learning models, or AI integrations.

Aerista's business model is transaction-based, earning commissions on each aircraft sale or acquisition it brokers. The company complements brokerage commissions with finance and insurance services, positioning itself as a full-service intermediary that handles market analysis, listing, negotiation, inspection coordination, and closing. Go-to-market is sales-led through regional Aircraft Sales Representatives who cultivate buyer and seller relationships across the US and EU. Customers are individual high-net-worth aircraft owners and buyers; pricing is quote-based and negotiated per transaction rather than publicly disclosed. The company is privately held with no disclosed external funding rounds or institutional investors.

Name

Aerista

Legal name

Aerista

Website

https://aerista.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Aerista is a privately held US-based aircraft brokerage specializing in pre-owned high-performance piston and light turbine aircraft. It serves individual buyers and sellers through regional sales offices, transaction commissions, and complementary finance and insurance services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Aircraft Brokerage

NAICS

Nonscheduled Air Transportation (4812), Nonscheduled Air Transportation (48121)

SIC

Air Transportation, Nonscheduled (4522)

akta.pro primary industry

Charter Brokerage & Charter Management (Passenger) (THABADAL)

Keywords

• Aircraft brokerage services
• Pre-owned aircraft sales
• Aircraft financing solutions
• Aviation insurance services
• Aircraft market analytics

Headquarters

HQ city

Troutdale

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices10 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Brokerage Commission: Aerista earns revenue through brokerage commissions on aircraft sales and acquisitions. The company provides analyze, advertise, and transact services to facilitate transactions, charging fees for the full-service representation including market analysis, listing, negotiation, and closing coordination.
2. Finance Services: Financing services for aircraft purchases, providing buyers with funding solutions to complete acquisitions.
3. Insurance Services: Aircraft insurance services offered as part of the transaction ecosystem to provide comprehensive support for buyers and sellers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Aerista is an aircraft brokerage that connects buyers and sellers of pre-owned general aviation aircraft, specializing in high-performance piston and light turbine aircraft such as Cirrus models. The firm provides end-to-end transaction support including aircraft search, valuation, negotiation, escrow handling, financing coordination, and insurance placement. Complementing its brokerage, Aerista offers proprietary market intelligence tools (AeristaMetrics™) and an aviation reference resource (AeristaPedia™) used by aircraft owners and prospective buyers.

Product overview

Aerista is the world's largest pre-owned aircraft brokerage specializing in the sale and acquisition of high-quality, owner-flown piston and light turbine airplanes. The company operates a unified brokerage platform offering aircraft sales, acquisitions, financing, and insurance services. Their product portfolio includes six primary aircraft model lines (Cirrus SR Series, Cirrus Vision Jet, Diamond Aircraft, Pilatus PC-12, Cessna Citation, and Carbon Cub), supplemented by proprietary data tools (AeristaMetrics™) for market analysis and an information resource (AeristaPedia™) for aircraft research. Services are delivered through a showroom platform with regional sales offices across the US and Europe.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Aircraft Brokerage Services End-to-end brokerage for buying and selling pre-owned general aviation aircraft, with specialization in high-performance piston and light turbine models (notably Cirrus). Service includes aircraft search, valuation, marketing, negotiation, and transaction coordination for individual aircraft owners and buyers.
• Aircraft Finance Services
• Aircraft Insurance Services
• AeristaMetrics™
• AeristaPedia™
• Escrow Sync

Quantifiable outcome

• 320 sales and acquisitions completed in 2024
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Kristy Bolingbroke (Director of Pilatus Sales)coreOthersKristy Bolingbroke serves as Aerista's Director of Pilatus Sales, providing specialized brokerage services for PC-12 aircraft transactions. She brings extensive experience piloting, managing, and brokering PC-12 airplanes.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• GlobalAir.com: GlobalAir.com is a leading online aircraft marketplace providing listings for new and pre-owned aircraft across multiple categories — a broader incumbent alternative to broker-led sales channels like Aerista's showroom.
• AvBuyer: AvBuyer is a global aircraft marketplace and media platform serving the pre-owned business aviation market. It is a broad incumbent competing for buyer attention and seller exposure in the same transaction ecosystem as Aerista.
• Trade-A-Plane: Trade-A-Plane is a long-established online aircraft marketplace covering piston, turboprop, and jet categories. It serves as a broad incumbent distribution channel that overlaps with Aerista's aircraft listing and discovery functions.
• Controller (AircraftExchange): Controller.com is one of the largest online aircraft marketplaces, listing tens of thousands of pre-owned aircraft for sale. It is a broader incumbent in aircraft transactions that competes with brokers by connecting buyers and sellers directly online.

Direct peers

• International Aircraft Marketing & Sales: IAMSA is an aircraft sales and acquisition broker operating in the pre-owned turbine and piston markets, providing full-service transaction representation comparable to Aerista's brokerage offering.
• Lone Mountain Aircraft: Lone Mountain Aircraft is a specialized pre-owned aircraft brokerage focused heavily on Cirrus and other high-performance piston/light turbine aircraft — directly comparable to Aerista's core product mix and target customer segment.
• Premier Aircraft Sales: Premier Aircraft Sales is a pre-owned aircraft brokerage representing buyers and sellers of piston, turboprop, and light jet aircraft — a comparable service model to Aerista with overlapping customer segments.
• Charlie Bravo Aviation: Charlie Bravo Aviation is an aircraft sales and acquisition brokerage operating in the pre-owned piston, turboprop, and light jet categories — closely aligned with Aerista's model lines and full-service brokerage approach.
• AVEX International: AVEX is a well-established aircraft sales and acquisition broker operating in the pre-owned business aircraft market, providing full-service brokerage representation comparable to Aerista's transaction model.
• Performance Aircraft: Performance Aircraft is a pre-owned aircraft brokerage with specialization in Cirrus and other piston models, offering direct brokerage and acquisition services similar to Aerista's core offering.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/aeristaaircraft

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Aerista