April 9, 2014 - For the first time in its 75 year history, Switzerland based Pilatus Aircraft has surpassed the one billion sales mark, increasing sales by over 70%, R&D and infrastructure, are also higher than ever before. The number of fulltime employees at the headquarters in Stans increased by 176 to 1609 over the past year. This is equivalent to growth of over twelve percent.

Major orders worth far in excess of two billion Swiss francs were received in 2012. These orders include the manufacturing of training aircraft and its systems which began in 2013 and will continue throughout 2014.

As is usual at the end of February, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) published its annual report on worldwide sales figures across a range of aircraft categories and types. The figures point to a slight year-on-year increase in sales across all categories (piston engine, turboprop, jet). As in the past two years, Pilatus ranks second with the PC-12 NG in the single-engine turboprop category.