Daher announced the delivery of a new TBM 930 to the first U.K.-based customer of this latest TBM very fast turboprop aircraft version, which also marks the initial TBM 930 sale by Flying Smart – the newly-appointed TBM Authorized Distributor for the U.K. and Ireland.
The TBM 930’s customer is Attila Balogh, an established American businessman in the United Kingdom, and who is the CEO of Partner in Pet Food (PPF), a leading company in the European pet food market. PPF, which has experienced dynamic growth in recent years, operates nine pet food factories in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the Netherlands – serving 35 countries, mostly in Europe.
Balogh will use his TBM 930 primarily for business travel, while also enjoying the aircraft’s comfort and range during trips with his family.
“We congratulate Attila Balogh for becoming the first U.K. owner of a TBM 930,” said Nicolas Chabbert, Senior Vice President of the Daher Airplane Business Unit. “He personifies the new generation of entrepreneur in Europe, who considers a business aircraft such as the TBM – with its excellent cost-to-speed ratio – as an essential instrument for a company’s growth.”
Balogh will fly the TBM 930 as an owner/operator. A passionate aviator with some 1,600 flight hours in his logbook, he learned to fly in 2004 at the Yorkshire aerodrome of Sherburn-in-Elmet, and purchased his first aircraft (a piston-engine four-seater) in 2008.
He currently holds 14 world speed records over recognized courses in sub-class C1C between the U.K. and continental cities in Europe. After obtaining an Instrument Rating in 2010, he began using his airplane for business trips, and began considering the upgrade to a turbine-powered aircraft.
“When I made the decision, I had surveyed the market, looking at both jet and turboprop aircraft. With pressurization, I could fly above the weather and benefit from the reliability of the turbine engine,” Balogh explained. “I finally selected the TBM 930, as it offered the best combination of speed, altitude, range and payload.”
He is looking forward to the benefits of mobility and availability with the TBM 930, being able to hold more business meetings in a shorter period of time, and expects to be flying some 250 hours per year with the TBM while visiting the various operations in support of his company’s expansion.
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