The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) last week published first quarter aircraft shipment figures that show a growth of nearly 26%.
GAMA's data showed increases over Q1 2024 of 19.3% for piston aeroplanes, 23.1% for turbo-props and 11% for executive jets. The growth added $US1 billion to the world-wide GA market for Q1, which was valued at $US5.08 billion.
The result continues an upward trend in shipments since the damaging COVID-19 downturn of 2020.
Q1 2025 witnessed a three-way battle for supremacy in the four-seat trainer market, with Cessna's C172SP claiming the crown with 48 deliveries, 55% up on last year. Piper would have been satisfied with the 32 PA28s shipped showing an increase of 14%, but in terms of growth, the 31 Cirrus SR20s was a stand-out with an increase of 3000% over the one aircraft they delivered in the same period last year. All other popular models in the sector recorded downturns of 25-40%.
Needless to say the Cirrus SR22/T dominated the high-speed singles, with 100 roll-outs reported. Surprisingly this was the only result in the segment that got over single figures. Textron delivered only five Skylanes and one G36 Bonanza, while Diamond's emerging DA50RG was 25% down on last year with six. Piper reported only one M350 shipped compared to the four units of Q1 2024.
Diamond's DA62–often referred to as a "Baron-killer"– headed the list of light twins in a market segment that was soft compared with last year. Diamond shipped 16 DA62s, which was 33% above Q1 2024, but all other models experienced a downturn in the order of 40-50%. The DA42 was down 44% on last year, which would have dampened Diamond's celebrations a bit.
In the single-engine turbo-prop (SETP) battle, all marques enjoyed a good Q1, led by the Cessna Caravan range, which was 92% up on last year. Piper's big turbine also had a healthy quarter, with M500/700 shipments 400% over that of the M600-led series in 2024. Pilatus and TBM were both up 11% and Epic doubled shipments of the G1000EX. The only downer was Kodiak, of which only one of the high-wing utility was delivered to a customer.
Analysis of the single-pilot jet market revealed no startling results, with the Cirrus SF50 Vision leading the way with 19 shipments, down only a single airframe from last year. Embraer's Phenom range remained out front of the twins, with the 14 examples rolled-out easily accounting for the Cessna M2 (five), HondaJet HA420 (four) and Pilatus PC-24 (five).
Major Aircraft Shipments Q1 2025
| Aircraft | Q1 2025 | Q1 2024 | Change |
| Piper Pilot 100 / Archer III | 32 | 28 | 14% |
| Cessna C172SP | 48 | 31 | 55% |
| Diamond DA40 | 17 | 23 | -26% |
| Cirrus SR20 | 31 | 1 | 3000% |
| Tecnam P2010 | 10 | 16 | -38% |
| Tecnam P-Mentor | 10 | 15 | -33% |
| Cessna C/T182T | 5 | 15 | -67% |
| Beech G36 Bonanza | 1 | 1 | - |
| Cirrus SR22/T | 100 | 54 | 85% |
| Piper M350 | 1 | 4 | -75% |
| Mooney Ovation/Acclaim | 0 | 0 | - |
| Diamond DA50 | 6 | 8 | -25% |
| Beech G58 Baron | 1 | 1 | 0% |
| Piper Seminole | 2 | 4 | -50% |
| Piper Seneca V | 0 | 0 | - |
| Diamond DA42 | 9 | 16 | -44% |
| Tecnam P2006T | 5 | 8 | -38% |
| Diamond DA62 | 16 | 12 | 33% |
| Cessna Caravan Series | 23 | 12 | 92% |
| Quest Kodiak 100/900 | 1 | 5 | -80% |
| Pilatus PC12 | 11 | 8 | 38% |
| Daher TBM 900 Series | 11 | 8 | 38% |
| PAC 750XL | 0 | 0 | - |
| Piper M500/M600/M700 | 10 | 2 | 400% |
| Epic G1000 EX | 6 | 3 | 100% |
| Cessna M2 | 5 | 4 | 25% |
| Embraer Phenom 100 & 300 | 14 | 11 | 27% |
| Honda HA420 | 4 | 2 | 100% |
| SF50 Vision | 19 | 20 | -5% |
| Pilatus PC24 | 5 | 6 | -17% |
| Cessna T206H | 8 | 4 | 100% |