Pilatus said its global fleet of more than 1,900 PC-12 turboprop singles has surpassed the 10 million flight hour mark. The company said it expects more opportunities in the future for the model that received its type certificate nearly 30 years ago.
The company said its fleet leader, a PC-12 based in Canada, has flown more than 35,000 hours, while 71 PC-12s have logged more than 20,000 hours of flight time each. Altogether, the PC-12 fleet has logged more than 9.3 million landings, with four aircraft reporting more than 50,000 landings. The aircraft was certified in 1994.
“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.”
Pilatus said it delivered 80 new PC-12s during 2022, and plans to increase production to meet higher demand this year. The latest model, the PC-12 NGX, is the third major variant and it of the type and has benefitted from a number of improvements over the original PC-12. These include more power, speed, gross weight and payload capacity and upgraded interiors. In 2019 the aircraft received Pratt & Whitney’s electronic propeller and engine control system, or EPECS.
“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,” he added.
