Piper Aircraft has delivered the 550th M-Class Meridian single-engined turboprop to a Swedish customer.
The Pratt & Whitney PT6A-42A-powered type – Piper's top-of-the-range product – will be used for personal and corporate transportation.
"The delivery of our 550th new turboprop Meridian into Sweden – a first in that country for us – demonstrates the increasing attractiveness of our top-of-the-line M-Class to Europeans," said Piper President Simon Caldecott.
The Meridian entered service in late 2000. Nine years later Piper replaced the aircraft's Avidyne Entegra flightdeck with a three-screen version of the Garmin G1000.
Annual deliveries of the $2.2 million Meridian fluctuated from a peak of 98 in 2001 to only 23 two years later, according to Flightglobal's Ascend Online Fleets database. Deliveries in the last three years have remained stable at around 32.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
