GA Shipments continue Upward Trend

New shipments of general aviation's most popular models have continued on an upward trajectory following a bumper third quarter in 2023.

Figures released today by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) show that factory new deliveries of piston aeroplanes were up 11.9%, turbo-props up 14.6% and business jets up 2%, adding up to an overall increase of 10% over the same period last year.

With 70% of all shipments coming from US manufacturers, the health of the GA industry is tied tightly to the US market, which GAMA president Pete Bunce says relies on stability.

"General aviation is the planet’s aerospace technology incubator that drives safety and sustainability benefits to our transportation systems and economies," Bunce said. "We are laser-focused on safety, technology and sustainability initiatives to maintain and expand our industry’s steadfast growth into the future.

"To achieve this, it is imperative that there is stability within our industry’s regulatory bodies."

There was no clear winner in the four-seat trainer market, with both the Piper Pilot 100/Archer II and Cessna 172 scoring 40 shipments. The point of difference was that the Cessna was down 29% on the 56 airframes delivered in Q3 2022, whereas the Piper series was 48% up on the 27 shipments recorded for the same period.

Diamond's DA40 and Cirrus' SR20 shared second place with 30 deliveries apiece, but again the Cirrus was 21% down whilst the Diamond was 20% up. 

The Cirrus SR22/T's dominance of the high-speed single market has never been as stark as Q3 2023, with 136 shipments recorded against 94 for Q3 2022. That's a 45% increase in a sector where no other model got into double figures, not even Diamond's newcomer DA50, of which only four were delivered for the quarter. 

For Diamond there was some consolation in the twin market, with the DA42 (12 shipments, up 71%) and DA62 (11, down 15%) easily out-pointing the others. Piper's Seminole and Beechcraft's Baron represented the metal-frame market with two and five deliveries respectively.

Pilatus' PC-12 dominated the single-engine turbo-prop sector with 27 deliveries for the quarter, up 108% from last year. The result nearly equaled that of the Caravan series and Kodiak 100/900 combined, both of which reported 14 shipments each. The M500/600 series flew the flag for Piper with the 12 deliveries reported an increase of 20% over last year.

Embraer took bragging rights in the single-pilot jet market, with the Phenom 100/300 range topping the charts with 19 deliveries, up 27% over last year. It was pushed hard by the Cirrus SF50 Vision, of which 17 were rolled-out, albeit a 26% decrease on 2022. Pilatus' PC-24 was up 75%, with 14 reported deliveries for the quarter.

Major Aircraft Shipments