Reinforcing the recovery in general aviation, Raytheon has reported strong orders for its business jets and turboprops, as well as its piston-powered aircraft. The company booked orders for 123 aircraft in the fourth quarter of 2004, 88 of them turbines.
Raytheon ended the year having delivered 313 general aviation aircraft, up from 269 in 2003, and having booked orders for 460, an increase of 177 aircraft from a year earlier. Hawker business jets and King Air turboprops led demand, with orders for the mid-size Hawker 800XP more than doubling to 79 and sales for the King Air family increasing by 60% to 139 aircraft.
The company says 55% of Hawkers and 36% of King Airs scheduled for delivery this year are already in backlog, up from 25% and 13%, respectively, at the start of last year.
A drop in orders for the Hawker 400XP light jet, to 43 aircraft, reflects the large NetJets fractional-ownership deal that boosted the 2003 total to 70 aircraft. Premier I light jet orders rose to 34, from 17 in 2003, while piston bookings almost doubled, to 157 aircraft.
Raytheon took just four orders for its super mid-size Hawker Horizon last year, down from five a year earlier.
GRAHAM WARWICK / WASHINGTON DC
Source: Flight International
