Worldwide general aviation aircraft shipments increased by nearly 12% year on year in the first quarter. According to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, airframers delivered 500 units between January and March 2014, up from the 447 aircraft handed over during the first three months of 2013. First-quarter shipments this year were valued at $5.1 billion, 9% higher than the same period a year ago, says GAMA.
Business jet shipments climbed by 19.4% to 154 aircraft, due largely to continued strong demand for large-cabin and long-range types including Gulfstream’s G450/550/650. The US airframer handed over 33 of these types between January and March – 10 more than during the first quarter of 2013. The flourishing international training market spurred deliveries of piston aircraft in the first three months by over 21% to 221 single and twin-engined types.
The turboprop sector bucked this upward trend, recording an 8% fall in shipments to 125 aircraft. The decline was largely a result of a 35% drop-off in Beechcraft King Air deliveries from 34 in the first quarter of 2013 to 22 between January and March.
“The GA manufacturing industry’s first-quarter numbers are encouraging and show that we continue to climb our way out of the recession,” says GAMA president Pete Bunce. “But we remain a long way from being out of the woods as shown by the mixed performance among sectors,” he adds.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
