First Quarter Shipments show Decline in Deliveries

Shipment figures released by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) this week show a decline in aircraft deliveries for the first quarter of 2015.

Manufacturers shipped 441 fixed-wing aeroplanes to customers in the January-March quarter against the 520 for Q1 2014, a drop of 15.2%.

"The first-quarter numbers show that, while our industry has been gaining traction over the past few years, we face some renewed headwinds in several regions of the world, including Asia, parts of Europe, and Latin America," said GAMA President and CEO Pete Bunce. "Our industry is focused on regaining momentum, but we need the US Congress to be a strong partner ... It is time to stop playing political games with industry jobs."

Most aircraft are down on deliveries for the same period last year, a notable exception being the DAHER-SOCATA TBM 900. Eleven aircraft were sold compared with five TBM 850s in January-March 2014. Piper's Meridian turbo-prop also gained with 11 aircraft over the six shipped last year. Conversely, the company sold no Matrix or Mirage models this quarter.

Deliveries of the SR22 (-30%) range were down on last year, as were the Cessna Caravan (-45%) and Diamond DA40 (-48%). Good news for Cessna came in higher returns for the C172SP (+24%) and the T206H Stationair (+50%).

Entering the shipment figures for the first time was Tecnam's four-seat P2010, of which six aircraft were shipped.

Major Aircraft Shipments