Textron Aviation has earmarked European certification of the Cessna SkyCourier for mid-2025 as the turboprop twin completes its debut demonstration tour of the continent. The 19-day tour began on July 1 and covered France, Germany, Greece, the UK, and the Channel Islands.
Speaking to AIN at the SkyCourier’s final stop in Jersey today, Textron Aviation senior v-p of global sales and flight operations Lannie O’Bannion described customer feedback regarding the aircraft as very positive. “There was already a strong interest in the SkyCourier in Europe based on the aircraft’s specification,” he said. “But this demo tour has allowed us to grow our pipeline of potential customers and close in on sales. The prospects for the SkyCourier here are enormous.”
Customers include regional passenger airlines, along with charter, cargo, and special-mission operators. “We are talking to everyone,” said O’Bannion.
The demonstration aircraft—S/N 3 and registered as N408PX—is outfitted in a 19-seat passenger configuration that O’Bannion expects to be a “huge success” on the continent. “There is simply nothing like the SkyCourier on the market today,” he noted.
The Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-65SC-powered SkyCourier was launched in November 2017 with an order from global logistics firm FedEx for 50 aircraft plus an option for 50 more. The 900-nm (1,665-km) aircraft secured FAA type certification in March 2022 and the first examples were delivered to FedEx soon after. The first passenger variant was delivered in May to Hawaiian charter operator Lanai Air.
To extend the 19,000-pound (8,600-kg) mtow SkyCourier’s utilitarian-centric design, Textron began offering earlier this year a gravel kit modification that allows the aircraft to operate from remote, unfinished runways.
Textron is also advancing the development of several modifications to the Garmin G1000 NXi-equipped SkyCourier for special-mission applications that will be installed on a demonstrator aircraft next year. These include four wing hardpoints, two inboard stations designed for auxiliary fuel tanks, and a pair of external sensor stations. Potential applications include surveillance, medical evacuation, and maritime patrol, said O’Bannion.
Textron Touts Special Missions Role At RIAT Show
Last week, the SkyCourier made its first-ever appearance in Europe, participating in the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) defense show at Fairford in the UK. Textron used the event to promote the aircraft's potential for special mission applications.
“We’ve had many requests for missions such as ISR (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance), air ambulance, aerial survey, troop transport and maritime patrol,” Andrew Pall, sales director, special missions – Europe told AIN. “There’s clearly a demand for a robust, reconfigurable airframe. We expect a launch customer by the end of the year,” he continued. The company expects to gain EASA certification of the cargo and passenger versions next year.
The aircraft was sized to a requirement from Federal Express for a 6,000-pound payload machine capable of carrying three LD-3 containers. FedEx became the launch customer. Now Textron is finishing design engineering on modifications such as provision for a retractable EO/IR sensor in the nose, power supply for sensors, and underwing hardpoints for sensors or fuel tanks, the latter increasing the aircraft’s endurance to 10 hours. Pall said that Textron will supply such aircraft to specialist companies that will do the system integration.
The SkyCourier is competing in a field that is ostensibly already well-served by other high-wing twin-turboprops such as the Twin Otter, Let 410, M28 Skytruck, and N219 Nurtanio. But Pall said that they all have smaller fuselages and lack the up-to-date avionics of the SkyCourier.