Current State of the Secondary Cessna Caravan Market – 1st Quarter 2016
The Cessna 208 Caravan is a single-engine Turboprop, short-haul airliner and utility aircraft that is built in the USA by Cessna Aircraft Company. It naturally seats nine passengers with a single pilot. Manufacturing started in 1982 but the aircraft did not get introduced to the market until 1984. There has been over 2,500 Cessna 208 Caravans built in many configurations. We will focus on the 208B Grand Caravan, the 208B Grand Caravan EX, and the 208B Super Cargomaster.
The Cessna Caravan market continues to be very active, and there have been 47 known sales of used Cessna 208 and 208B aircraft in the first quarter of 2016. This is up from 35 known sales of used Caravans in the same quarter of 2015, an increase of 34%.
It should be noted that there were a couple of fleet transactions that have taken place in Q1 of 2016, but overall the market is buoyant with a used Cessna Caravan trading every 48 hours on average.
Secondary Cessna Caravan Market Breakdown.
The Grand Caravan, Grand Caravan EX and Super Cargomaster make up 73% of the Used Current Fleet.
Secondary Cessna Caravan Market by Variant
The Cessna Caravan family is made of several variants including the 208, 208B and 208B EX. There are different versions of these variants including the 208B Grand Caravan, 208B Super Cargomaster as well as Grand Caravan and Super Cargomaster versions of the 208B EX. The breadth of these variants is evidence of the Cessna Caravan’s versatility, and ability of the airframe to adapt to multiple missions.
The behavior of the different Caravan variants in the market is something that we track closely.
Secondary Cessna Caravan Market by Variant (Continued)
The 208B Grand Caravan as equipped with the Pratt & Whitney PT6A-114A is the most traded member of the Cessna Caravan family. There have been 24 Grand Caravans sold on the used market in the first quarter of 2016, and this is a 33% over the same period in 2015.
The 208B segment of the market does tend to show a higher degree of volatility. We believe this can be partly attributed to the smaller number of this variant in the world wide fleet.
- All Cessna 208 Sold
- Cessna 208B Grand Caravans Sold
- 208B Grand Caravan EXs Sold
Cessna sales ranging from March 2015 to March 2016.
148 Cessna 208B Caravans were sold on the secondary market with the Grand Caravan comprising of about 57% of those transactions.
- All Cessna 208 Sold
- Cessna 208B Grand Caravans Sold
- 208B Grand Caravan EXs Sold
Cessna sales ranging from March 2015 to March 2016.
45 Grand Cessna Caravan EXs and 20 Super Cargomasters were sold on the secondary market.
Secondary Cessna Caravan Market by Variant (Continued)
The 208B Grand Caravan EX market segment saw 7 used aircraft traded in the first quarter of 2016 as compared to 4 aircraft in Q1 2015. We believe that the number of 208B EX trades will increase as the variant increases its presence in the world wide fleet.
The 208B Super Cargomaster had 6 used aircraft sales, and is the only variant of the Caravan with decreased sales compared to Q1 2015 which had 7 sales. We have witnessed a cooling off in this market segment as many Super Cargomasters were being sold into skydive operators. We have seen PT6A-114A equipped aircraft lose the most value as many buyers of the Super Cargomaster are preferring aircraft with upgraded engines such as the Texas Turbines Supervan 900, and Blackhawk XP.
Additional Resources:
Current Cessna 208s on the Market:
- SkyQuest International Cessna 208 Aircraft Listings
- SkyQuest International Cessna 208 Appraisals
- SkyQuest International Cessna 208 Acquisitions
Articles & News:
- Cessna Grand Caravan EX. A new engine gives the Caravan workhorse remarkable powers.
— FlyingMag.com (Flying magazine), June 11, 2013 - Cessna 208B – Grand Caravan Aircraft Fact Sheet
— Mark R. Twombly, AOPA Pilot, June 1991 - History of the Cessna 208 Caravan
— Wikipedia
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