Story ID: 
Daher-Socata Turboprop Deliveries Climb in 2010
By: Chad Trautvetter
Caption: Daher-Socata delivered 38 TBM 850 turboprop singles last year, two more than it shipped in 2009, making 2010 the TBM programπs fourth-best year.
Word Count: 184
Daher-Socata delivered 38 TBM 850 turboprop singles last year, two more than it shipped in 2009, making 2010 the TBM programπs fourth-best year. With last yearπs tally, the French aircraft manufacturer said there are now 222 TBM 850s in service–no small feat since the model was introduced only in 2006. The overall TBM fleet, which includes 700-series models, currently numbers 545. Last year, the combined flight time of these aircraft exceeded 800,000 hours. Bucking the trend of more international deliveries other aircraft manufacturers are experiencing, Socata reported 76 percent of the TBM 850s sold last year were for U.S. customers. European buyers accounted for 13 percent of the year's sales; Latin America, 5 percent; and Asia-Pacific and Africa, 3 percent each. "The TBM 850's continued success is due to its low operating costs and the loyalty of our customers, some of whom purchased their fifth TBM-family aircraft in 2010," said Socata Aircraft senior vice president Nicolas Chabbert. "We're now looking forward to the introduction of the Daher-Socata 100th-anniversary special edition TBM 850 this year, which will offer a program that lowers the scheduled maintenance costs for five years or 1,000 hours."