For aircraft manufacturers, interest in flying GA remains positive—and one indicator that is particularly encouraging is that interest is strong from people new to flying privately. At least that’s what Cirrus Aircraft has reported in its most recent shared data from 2021 and the first quarter of 2022. Up to 40 percent of its 2021 buyers of the SR series single-engine piston aircraft were “new to aviation,” according to a release, “and 25 percent of SR orders were from outside the U.S.”
So it makes sense that the OEM is expanding its footprint in the U.K. and Europe. Earlier this spring, Cirrus Aircraft opened a regional operations office in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, to join its sales office in Valenciennes, France, and it has named Oriens Aviation at Biggin Hill Airport (EGKB) near London, England, as a service provider in its network. Oriens joins Cirrus maintenance providers in Guernsey, Gloucestershire, and Leeds in the U.K., and hundreds around the world.
