Pilatus has obtained type certificates from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for the PC-24, the company's first offering on the bizjet market.

Certification — awarded on 7th December — clears the way for the first PC-24 to be “handed over” to U.S. fractional ownership business PlaneSense at the Pilatus facility in Stans before the end of the year. The official delivery in the U.S. will follow in January. PlaneSense, which currently operates 34 PC-12s, will deploy six PC-24s.

The first PC-24 prototype completed its maiden flight in May 2015, and the three prototypes used in the certification programme have flown a total of 2,205 hours worldwide to date.

Pilatus Chairman Oscar J. Schwenk states that all performance data promised to the first 84 customers have been achieved or even exceeded. He cites the example of the aircraft's maximum speed of 440 knots (815km/h), compared to the contractually agreed 425 knots (787km/h).

The company says it has invested over SwFr500m (€430m) in the PC-24 development programme, plus SwFr150m for buildings and production tooling at its Stans facility. It is also investing in a U.S. completion and support centre in Broomfield, Colorado.

Pilatus currently has eight PC-24s on the assembly line in Stans, with 23 deliveries to customer around the world planned throughout 2018.