The 1,500th Pilatus PC-12 has been delivered to the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia (RFDS), which was one of the first customers to take delivery of the single-engine turboprop, back in 1994. Pilatus earmarked the milestone aircraft for the RFDS in thanks for its “longstanding loyalty”.
The RFDS has a fleet of 33 PC-12s that it uses to reach people in remote areas – around 18,000 patients each year. The aircraft can use short and unmade strips. “The PC-12 is perfectly tailored to the rigorous conditions in the Australian outback,” said John Lynch, CEO of RFDS central operations. “We appreciate its special characteristics and recognize the indispensable role it plays in enabling us to meet the challenges of our mission as it is defined today.”
The anniversary aircraft was handed over in a ceremony that also marked the opening of a new assembly hangar, which provides an extra 107,639ft² of space for series production.
The global PC-12 fleet has accumulated more than six million hours of flight. The aircraft is certified in 55 countries, and used for business, cargo, ambulance/emergency, SAR and aerial surveillance flights.
July 4, 2017
