Piston Deliveries Grow in Q1 2014

Deliveries of piston-engined aircraft grew more than 20% in the first quarter of 2014, according to figures released yesterday by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA).

The 221 piston aircraft shipped in the Jan-Mar quarter is 21.4% up on the 182 delivered for the same period in 2013.

By contrast, the turbo-prop sector, which has been bouyant in the past few years, contracted by 8.1% with only 125 aircraft shipped compared to 136 in Q1 2013.

In all, general aviation shipments are up 11.9% with 500 aircraft delivered in total for the quarter.

"The GA manufacturing industry’s first-quarter numbers in 2014, especially the strong showing in the piston segment, are encouraging and show that we continue to climb our way out of the recession," GAMA President and CEO Pete Bunce said. "But we remain a long way from being out of the woods as shown by the mixed performance among sectors."

Leading the piston charge were the Diamond DA40 with 48 shipments and the Cirrus SR22 series with 54 shipments.

The fall in shipments of turbo-props is seen largely in the figures returned by the Beech King Air range. The 22 aircraft shipped in Q1 2014 is 36% down on the 34 delivered for Jan-Mar 2013. All other turbo-prop shipments were static, except for the Caravan series, which propped up the sector with a 25% increase in sales.

Surprisingly, the Eclipse 550 topped the entry-level jet table with five deliveries in their first quarter back on the books.

Major Aircraft Shipments