Pilatus' flagship PC-12 single-engined turbo-prop (SETP) fleet has clocked 10 million hours in service since the model was introduced in 1994, the company announced this week.
One of the most versatile and recognisable airframes in general aviation, the PC-12 is used on almost all types of operations from corporate transport to short-haul airline, aeromedical missions and military operations.
Powered by a single Pratt & Whitney PT6 engine, it was one of the first aircraft designed to replace legacy piston twins, and over 1900 have been built at the Pilatus factory in Stans, Switzerland.
"When the PC-12 was launched, this milestone seemed light-years away in the future," said Ignaz Gretener, Vice President of Pilatus’ Business Aviation division.
"You must give credit to the engineers who designed this incredibly robust airframe, the production team that builds outstanding quality into each unit, the sales team that found so many markets eager to adopt this versatile aircraft, and the support team so dedicated to keeping them in the air.
"We are especially grateful to our ownership base for trusting in Pilatus and helping us continuously improve the PC-12 so that it leads the market in sales year after year."
The fleet leader in terms of hours is based in Canada and has over 35,000 hours on the airframe, whilst there are 71 PC-12s around the world that have exceeded 20,000 hours in the air. The fleet has completed an 9.3 million landings with four aircraft reporting more than 50,000 landings each.
"The PC-12s past, present, and future success boils down to its appeal to a wide range of operations, its solid reliability, and its proven outstanding safety record," said Pilatus CEO Markus Bucher.
"As an additional benefit, these attributes have resulted in PC-12 owners enjoying one of the highest levels of value retention among all business aircraft."
Pilatus sold 80 new PC-12 NGX models in the 2022 calendar year, making it the leading SETP on the market. The nearest rival remains Cessna's Grand Caravan series, which recorded 71 deliveries for the year.
"The secret to the PC-12's success is really no secret at all," said Gretener. "We continuously listen to our customers and strive to provide them with features, capabilities, and technologies to support the missions which are critical to them.
"With each aircraft and every individual owner and operator of a Pilatus aircraft, our goal is to become incrementally better."