Piper Aircraft on Tuesday announced sales and revenue were up as much as 9 percent over the course of 2011, attributing the positive numbers to the success of the company’s flagship, the Piper Meridian.
According to Piper, new aircraft sales totaled more than $131 million in 2011, up from $120 million in 2010. Sales of the Piper Meridian, the widely popular $2.1 million single-engine turboprop, rose from 25 in 2010 to 32 in 2011. Also driving Piper’s 2011 success was a jump in international business, which increased for the second consecutive year.
In light of the numbers, Piper CEO Simon Caldecott referred to the company’s financial situation as “stable and brightening,”
The news comes after a somewhat rocky year for the company, one that included a national tour of the PiperJet Altaire mock-up, followed by an indefinite suspension of the private jet program and layoffs in October.
Piper ascribed the program’s suspension to high development costs associated with the jet, in conjunction with low prospective demand for the product. The company said it would shift its focus to revving up improvements for its successful turboprop models.
