Textron Aviation continues to expand its support offerings and target its products in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. In 2019 alone, the Wichita-based airframer of Beechcraft and Cessna turbine aircraft added a new parts warehouse in Australia; named PhilJets Aero Services in Manila as its authorized service facility in the Philippines; and more recently announced its acquisition of Premiair Aviation Maintenance’s three maintenance, repair, and overhaul facilities in Australia.

Those moves follow an expansion of Textron Aviation’s parts operation—to nearly 6,000 unique part numbers—at its Singapore service center in early 2018. “We continue to remain optimistic of the Asia-Pacific market overall,” Textron Aviation v-p of Asia Pacific sales and marketing Jessica Pruss told AIN. “The investments we continue to make in not only our products but also our service and support infrastructure, are really making a difference for our customers and are influencing purchase decisions.”

In 2019, the company sold and delivered more jets into the region than in the past several years, Pruss added, and its turboprops enjoy a high degree of popularity in the region. According to the OEM, the Beechcraft King Air and Cessna Caravan account for 80 percent of the installed turboprop base in APAC, while in Singapore 50 percent of the turboprop fleet is Textron Aviation aircraft.

With that in mind, the company is hopeful its new Cessna SkyCourier 408 twin-turboprop will see similarly strong demand in the region. “We believe the SkyCourier is going to be another great turboprop option for customers throughout the region, especially those operators looking to haul additional cargo or passengers between the many different resort islands found throughout Asia,” Pruss explained.

First announced in 2017, FedEx is the launch customer for the SkyCourier, with 50 firm orders for the high-wing utility airplane and options for 50 more. Configurable for both cargo and commuter operations, it is designed to carry a payload of up to 6,000 pounds with an 87-inch cargo door, a flat floor, and a nearly 70-inch tall and wide cabin to accept three standard LD3 air cargo containers. In a passenger configuration, it will have seating for up to 19 passengers, with a netted rear cabin area for luggage and equipment. Capable of flying 200 ktas, the aircraft is powered by two, 1,100-shp Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-65SC turboprop engines and two, new 110-inch McCauley propellers.

Development of the high-wing utility SkyCourier, scheduled for first flight this year, is progressing. Workers at the company successfully mated the wings to the fuselage of the first prototype SkyCourier in mid-December. In all, Textron has six flight- and ground-test articles for the development program.

A December 27 liquid nitrogen explosion at the company’s east Wichita Plant 3 building didn’t harm the SkyCourier prototype, Textron Aviation officials have said, and progress on the program continues.

On the jet front, the mid-size Citation Latitude continues to attract interest in the region for its performance, spacious interior, and low operating costs, according to Pruss. “And over the past couple of years we have sold and delivered several [Latitudes] into China, the Philippines, and Japan,” she said. One of the applications for the Latitude, for example, has been configuration with special-missions flight inspection equipment for countries in Asia.

Textron Aviation expects there will be plenty of conversations in Asia around the super-midsize twinjet Longitude, which received FAA type certification in September followed by its first delivery in early October.

The 12-seat, $28.345 million Longitude has a full fuel payload of 1,600 pounds (726 kg) and a range of 3,500 nm, enabling nonstop travel with four passengers from Singapore to Beijing or Hong Kong to Mumbai. “We believe the Citation Longitude will be another impressive jet platform for our customers in APAC,” Pruss noted.