Flight-training company Airline Transport Professionals (ATP) has agreed to buy up to 30 Piper Seminoles in a transaction that could be worth as much as $18 million.

The deal, which the companies jointly announced at NBAA 2011 in Las Vegas, involves an initial purchase of 10 of the multi-engine, piston-powered training aircraft for delivery in 2012. ATP has an option for 20 additional Seminoles for delivery in 2013 and 2014. All of the airplanes feature Garmin G500 avionics. This is not ATP’s first Seminole purchase. The company bought six in 2010 and has a total of 88 Piper aircraft, in addition to 57 Cessna 172s, five Diamond DA40s and a Cessna CitationJet.

“ATP chose the Piper Seminole because of its dispatch reliability, compatibility with our existing fleet and ATP’s continuing commitment to providing high-quality multi-engine flight training,” said ATP vice president Jim Koziarski.

Piper president and CEO Geoffrey Berger added that the Seminole “has proven itself in hundreds of thousands of hours of flight-school training around the world. Students in training appreciate the Seminole’s ability to help them learn advance flight maneuvers and procedures while ATP instructors appreciate the airplane’s ability to teach these lessons in a safe and forgiving manner.”