Piper Aircraft Inc. grew its new aircraft deliveries and sales revenue during the first quarter of 2017, ending March 31. First quarter 2017 performance showed a positive trend on the heels of a 26% growth in billings for 2016 when Piper launched the new flagship product, the M600 SETP and expanded deliveries of the single engine trainer, the Piper Archer.

Airplane deliveries increased more than 13% to 25 aircraft in the first quarter of 2017, up from 22 airplanes during the first quarter of 2016. New aircraft sales revenue grew more than 60% to $23,383,514, when compared to sales of $14,311,429 during the same period the previous year, reflecting strong demand for the M600.

"Piper's performance in the first quarter of 2017 gives us a good start on the year and is an encouraging indicator of demand for Piper products. It also continues the upward trend that we saw in 2016," said Piper President and CEO Simon Caldecott.

Simon Caldecott continued, "In the first quarter of 2017 Piper delivered 19 trainers, which was a combination of both the single engine Archer as well as the twin engine Seminole. The continued growth in trainer sales comes as a result of our commitment to provide the pilot training industry with a family of training aircraft and the latest in avionics and training technology. While M-class deliveries, in total, were level with last year, the addition of the M600 drove revenue up significantly. We expect M600 sales growth during 2017 as aircraft demonstration tours continue and international type certifications are achieved."