General aviation aircraft manufacturers are off to a flying start to 2013, with reported deliveries up 10% and billings up 32%.
The first quarter figures, released by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), show a definite trend toward higher-ticket aircraft such as business jets and turbo-props, although deliveries of piston engines was also up 3.8%.
Total value of shipments was $US4.6 billion.
"We are very pleased to see a shift to the positive for GA airplanes, which extends across all airplane segments, for the first quarter of 2013,” said GAMA President and CEO Pete Bunce.
"However, the performance was mixed within the segments, which demonstrates the need for industry’s continued engagement with elected officials and regulators throughout the world as we seek to strengthen the GA sector."
A total of 458 GA aircraft were delivered in Q1 2013, of which 265 (57%) were either turbo-props or business jets.
In the battle of the single-engine turbo-props, the clear winner was again the C208 Caravan with 18 aircraft, with the Pilatus PC-12 (7), Piper Meridian (6), TBM 850 (5) and Quest Kodiak being the only other types to get into double figures. Only one of each was sold of the Extra 500 and the PAC 750XL.
Other returns show that GippsAERO sold five GA8s, the C172SP (16) out-sold the C172R (0) and with 27 shipments, the Diamond DA40 is leading the four-place tourer/trainer market.