Atlanta, GA
P.180 Avanti Aircraft World Fleet Passes 500,000 Flight Hours Milestone

Piaggio Aero is proud to announce that their P.180 Avanti and Avanti II aircraft fleet has passed the significant landmark of 500,000 flight hours.


The P.180 Avanti world fleet is composed of 203 aircraft (+ 4 prototypes). With its two versions, the “Avanti”, certified in 1990, and the Avanti II, certified in 2005, the P.180s have flown more than half a million flight hours as for September 2010.


“The total flying hours is not just a number; it marks a milestone of steadily accumulated experience in building, operating and maintaining the most innovative, fast and environmentally green, multi utility aircraft. Over the  years, our unique product  has allowed Piaggio Aero to become one of the most authorative ambassadors of Italian high technology worldwide. We owe this success mainly to the extraordinary product we build which, delivers, superior performance and an outstanding level of reliability and safety. It really represents  a new frontier in executive flying.” said Alberto Galassi Piaggio Aero’s CEO “ It gives me great satisfaction to celebrate this event with  our personnel who have been able to design, manufacturer, maintain  and improve this incredible aircraft and enabling Piaggio Aero to reach this  important milestone,”  he added.“While we constantly look for ways to improve our product it is appropriate to pause briefly and celebrate this important milestone and then focus on the next one”.



The P.180 Avanti II is the fastest and most advanced executive/multi-utility turboprop in the world. The Avanti II offers the speed of a light/mid size jet aircraft, the comfort of a large, whisper quiet full stand-up cabin, with fuel efficiencies that are nearly 40% higher than most business jets. The P.180 Avanti II features fully digital, automatic flight control and utilizes the latest generation “Pro Line 21” avionics system that it is also single pilot certified. 



The maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of 12,100 lbs gives the P.180 Avanti II greater payload range, and the introduction of the updated engines (P&WC PT6A-66B) provided both higher performance and faster cruise speed. The Piaggio P180 Avanti is the most flexible aircraft in business aviation,  able to operate out of small peripheral airports with landing and take-off distances that are simply unachievable in a comparably sized jet.



The largest fleet of P.180 aircraft is owned by the fractional ownership company Avantair whose records show that the fleet of 55 P.180 aircraft have flown more than 225,500 flight hours and that they average more than 120 flight hours a month per aircraft. The highest time aircraft is S/N 1007 with more than 8.650 total flight hours and a total of 13,080 landings.



The Avanti already holds 16 world speed records as it’s able to fly at the incredible maximum cruise speed of 402 kts, 745 km/h (MMO 0.70), and has an endurance of just under 1,500 nautical miles and a maximum altitude of 41,000 feet.



The P.180 Avanti II is a really flexible platform: the fastest greenest and most comfortable business aircraft in its category but it also has the ability to operate as an efficient air ambulance, thanks to the unobstructed space available in its full stand up cabin and its outstanding pressurization level. It is also an efficient Flight Inspection and Calibration Unit thanks to its state of the art systems which, ensure accurate flight inspection of all aspects of radio, radar, sight procedures and assistance.