From piston aircraft to jets, sales are up worldwide

DELIVERIES of General Aviation aircraft are booming, according to figures released last month by the US General Aviation and Manufacturers Association (GAMA).

Worldwide shipments reached 4042 GA aircraft, up 12.9% over the previous year's total. The value of these aircraft was an all-time high at $18.8 billion (£9.6 billion), a 24.1% increase.

All of the major manufacturers are doing well with Cirrus topping the charts for single-engine piston aircraft. The American Minnesota-based manufacturer delivered a record 721 aircraft in 2006, up 20% on the previous year.

"It's a great achievement to be number one for the fifth year, but that's not our key driving factor," said Cirrus sales chief, John Bingham. "Our continued success is due to the dedication of our domestic and international teams to deliver the ultimate aircraft while providing the ultimate customer experience."
The biggest GA manufacturer is still Cessna, with a total of 1239 aircraft delivered in 2006.

"Thanks to a growing demand for business aircraft around the globe, our Citation jet deliveries grew to 307 aircraft last year, up more than 50 aircraft over 2005," said Cessna boss Jack Pelton.

"We also did very well with our single-engine line, with 865 piston aircraft and 67 turboprops delivered," he continued. "With these deliveries, and with our development work for new single-engine products, our leadership and commitment in this market segment are unrivalled."

A 33% rise was seen by Austrian manufacturer Diamond Aircraft, with 163 DA42 Twin Stars and 220 DA40s delivered. "Diamond has sustained this level of growth over the last five years," said CEO Christian Dries.

"The production ramp-up of new models like our DA42 Twin Star and DA40 Diamond Star, in combination with continued popularity of our existing models continues to fuel this growth."
The growth in GA is actually better than the GAMA figures suggest. Helicopters, Very Light Aircraft, Microlights and Gliders are not included in the totals - and all these areas are also showing sharp rises in activity except Gliding.

One indicator of the VLA/microlight market is a recent report in Hospodáské noviny, a Czech economic newspaper. It says 25 Czech companies produced 588 ultralight aircraft worth more than 1 billion Czech Koruna (about £24 million) in 2006, 170 units more than four years ago. The paper reported the President of the Czech Association of Sports Aircraft Producers, Miroslav Kabrt, as saying Czech production of ultralight aircraft could rise by 20% this year.

Although good, the figures are still far off the best ever year for GA deliveries - 17,811 in 1978.
W: www.gama.aero