Piston aeroplane deliveries slump in Q2 2026

Deliveries of piston-engined aeroplanes dropped more than 3% in the second quarter of 2026, bucking an otherwise upward trend from other aeroplane sectors.

According to General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) shipment figures released this week, manufacturers delivered 786 piston aircraft to customers, 3.1% down on the 811 recorded for the same period in 2025.

Conversely, shipments of turbo-props were up 7.8% and business jets up 8.2%. The value of all shipments for the quarter was $US14.3 billion, an increase of 15%.

The poor piston result reflected in the shipment figures for single-engined four-seat trainers, where only Cessna's C172SP experienced growth over last year. The 62 airframes shipped was 10 more than Q2 2026, representing a 19% better result. The PA28 was down 12%, and both the Cirrus SR20 and Tecnam P2010 were 17% below last year. For Diamond's DA40, the quarter was disastrous, with only 11 airframes shipped compared to 38 for the same period in 2025.

There was little change to the status in the high-speed single market, where the SR22/T continues to swamp the competition. Cirrus shipped 143 airframes, which is 4% more than last year, totally eclipsing the C/T182T's 16 deliveries, which was the only other type to get into double figures.

Diamond has now established the DA62 as the clear leader in the twin sector, even though the 14 shipments represented a 13% decline. Deliveries of its little sister DA42 also declined by 21%. Tecnam's P2006T recorded a healthy 50% increase, but the stand-out was Piper's Seminole, which closed the quarter 900% above the 2025 result, with Vero Beach shipping 10 airframes compared to last year's solitary aircraft roll-out.

In the SETP market, Pilatus' PC-12 doubled its score to 28 to lead the market, with Cessna's workhorse C208B coming in second with 19 deliveries, albeit one airframe short of matching last year's result. The superstar of the sector was Epic's E1000, which experienced a 700% increase in deliveries, with eight aircraft delivered to customers compared to the one airframe for Q2 2025. Demand for the Daher TBM was up 38% and the Piper M-series turbines up 27%.

Manufacturers of single-pilot jets would be smiling at the Q2 2026 returns, which showed an increase across the sector of 15%. The total of airframes monitored by Australian Flying was 77 against the 67 of 2025. Cirrus SF50 continues the show a clean tailplane to other models, recording a 38% increase in roll-outs. The 36 aircraft dispatched to customers led the 24 of Embraer's Phenom range. Deliveries of Cessna's M2 and the Pilatus PC-24 were both down 25%.

Major Aircraft Shipments

- Steve Hitchen