Daher’s TBM air taxi takes center stage at France Air Expo Lyon

With European skies now opened to commercial operations with pressurized single-engine turboprop aircraft, Daher is using its presence at this week’s France Air Expo Lyon event to highlight the TBM aircraft family for fast and efficient air taxi service.

France Air Expo Lyon is the only gathering of its type in France devoted to general aviation, running from today through June 10 at Lyon-Bron Airport. For Daher’s participation in this exhibition, the company is presenting the TBM 910 – the latest member in the TBM family of very fast turboprop business aircraft.
Daher also welcomes its customer, VOLDIRECT, Europe’s first commercial operator of the TBM – which has opened a new base at Lyon-Bron Airport with the arrival of a second TBM 850 in its fleet.

« Our new TBM 910 version – as with the other TBM-series aircraft – meets the expectations of European business travelers for speed and comfort, and offers an unmatched price-to-cost ratio for Europe with the expanded approval of commercial operations using single-engine turboprop aircraft,” commented Nicolas Chabbert, Senior Vice President of the Daher Airplane Business Unit. « We also are delighted to see the VOLDIRECT fleet grow with a TBM now based in Lyon, a business city par excellence.”

Frédéric Caussarieu, pilot and director of VOLDIRECT, said Lyon and the Rhône-Alpes are situated in one of France’s most dynamic regions in economic terms, and the TBM’s availability at Lyon-Bron Airport will meet a demand for point-to-point regional travel.
« With the arrival of a second TBM 850 in our fleet, we enable local customers to benefit from private travel at a price close to that of the airlines – but with a wider range of destinations and unmatched flexibility. »

The TBM 910 and TBM 930 are the latest members in Daher’s TBM family of very fast single-engine turboprop aircraft. Differences between the two models are concentrated on their primary avionics: Garmin’s G1000 NXi avionics system with physical keypad for the TBM 910; Garmin’s G3000 with touchscreen controller for the TBM 930. Both aircraft offer superior performance – such as a maximum cruise speed of 330 kts. – and high efficiency with a 1,730-naut. mi. maximum range and a fuel consumption at economy cruise of 37 U.S. gallons per hour. This results from aerodynamic improvements, along with other aircraft enhancements. The maximum range and useful load, as well as the ability to land at small airports, are some of the customers’ favorite features.

The TBM 900, TBM 910 and TBM 930 already have received more than 200 orders since their launches, with 176 delivered through May 31, 2017. The TBM 910 and TBM 930 are built by
Daher on its industrial site at the airport of Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées (Hautes Pyrénées), France.
Overall, a total of 838 TBM aircraft (TBM 700, TBM 850, TBM 900, TBM 910 and TBM 930 versions) have been delivered to international owners and operators, with the global fleet
accumulating some 1.4 million flight hours.