Piaggio Avanti in Australia

[WannaBeBiggles]

Just curious as to why the Piaggio Avanti never really got any traction in Australia.

On face value it looks like it'd be perfect for out conditions, fast, good range and a SAR that beats most of its competitors.

Was it simply a case of lack of support or something else?

[thorn bird]

It looks funny??

Hell I don't know, they call the A380 Vagina...

looks funny on the outside, but great when your in it.

[Captain Nomad]

Was tested by some notable operators. It has very high pressure tyres which make it somewhat unsuitable for some applications. It also came up less than impressive and short of the advertised figures when you put it into an ISA +20 type of environment...

[Ascend Charlie]

Maybe people got scared of the configuration when Beech recalled all their Starships and put them through the guillotine.

[tail wheel]

Potential prop damage. (Killed off the Starship for unsealed runways).

Avanti US7.8 mill versus King Air 200 US$5 mill.

Max payload 907 kg.

Only 216 sold in 30 years versus 3,550 King Airs sold since 1972.

[Fris B. Fairing]

never really got any traction

Because it was a pusher?

[megle2]

It wasn't that fast, a really noisy external footprint, potential prop damage, ISA+, first of type, support, cost ect ect made sense to leave it alone

[LJ5000]

was never going to be the right aircraft for the rfds, should be compared with the smaller citations, lears etc
maybe marginally slower than some but the cabin is far superior to anything in the segment.

[TwoFiftyBelowTen]

Agree about the external noise...and a unique noise, that is....don't need to look up to confirm what's flying overhead. But inside it's eerily quiet

[AIRTAM]

WannaBeBiggles question could be answered with the Avanti N80TC currently at Essendon - rumoured to become a permanent resident. A return flight to Sydney over weekend illustrates how fast the aircraft is.

[Engineer_aus]

They were marketing it for the RFDS, and simply it was not big enough for their operations.

[iPahlot]

Still surprising we don't see many here being used for business.