Well pleased with the contract it placed at last year's NBAA Convention,
fractional owner AvantAir of Greenville, S.C., has signed for 12
further examples of the graceful Italian-built Piaggio P180 Avanti
(including two exercised options and five more firm). With three
aircraft already in service (and five more to come from last year's
buy), AvantAir's CEO, Steve Sonto, is enthusiastic about the internally
quiet and spacious canard-equipped turboprop twin, which he rates
as no match for a King Air and the equal of a jet-powered Citation
Bravo in terms of speed and vibration-free comfort. Double figure
orders have not been associated with any Piaggio product for almost
40 years, so Piaggio America's COO, Jim Holcombe, is confident that
2004 is the "breakthrough year," leading to regular annual
sales of some 40-50. Currently, there are 30 of the 10-seat Avanti
on the FAA register, the AvantAir commitment now totaling 15, plus
five options.
