Friedrichshafen, Germany - April 19, 2007 - Cessna Aircraft Company, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, announced today at the AERO Friedrichshafen trade show an order for 11 172 Skyhawks from the Gestair Group, one of the largest flight training schools on the Iberian Peninsula.
The Skyhawks, all equipped with the Garmin G1000 avionics suite, will be delivered over the next eight months.
“This will allow Gestair to replace some of its older Skyhawks with the new Garmin-equipped Skyhawks that will be instrumental in its mission of initial training of future airline pilots,” said Bob Gibbs, Cessna director of International Single-Engine Sales. “With the G1000, new pilots are better prepared to move forward in Gestair's top-rated airline training program.”
Gestair is headquartered in Madrid and has 23 Skyhawks at its school in the Spanish capital and another 21 in Cascais, Portugal.
Cessna is the world's largest producer of single-engine piston aircraft – the 172 Skyhawk, the 182 Skylane, and the 206 Stationair.
Based on unit sales, Cessna Aircraft Company is the world's largest manufacturer of general aviation airplanes. In 2006, Cessna delivered 1,239 aircraft, including 307 Citation business jets, and reported revenues of about $4.2 billion and a backlog of $8.5 billion. Since the company was originally established in 1927, more than 189,000 Cessna airplanes have been delivered to nearly every country in the world. The global fleet of almost 5,000 Citations is the largest fleet of business jets in the world. More information about Cessna Aircraft Company is available at www.cessna.com.
Textron Inc. is an $11 billion multi-industry company operating in 32 countries with approximately 40,000 employees. The company leverages its global network of aircraft, industrial and finance businesses to provide customers with innovative solutions and services. Textron is known around the world for its powerful brands such as Bell Helicopter, Cessna Aircraft Company, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO, Greenlee, Fluid & Power, Textron Systems and Textron Financial Corporation. More information is available at www.textron.com.