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Daher has started a sales effort in Central and South America, especially Brazil, for its Kodiak utility turboprop single, trying to build on the momentum it created with small fleet orders.
The France-based manufacturer therefore intends to compete with Textron’s Cessna Caravan. Meanwhile, it is building a final assembly line in Stuart, Florida, for both the Kodiak and the TBM 910/960 business turboprop single. Daher thus aims to increase capacity and preempt potential tariff increases.
The Aviation Week Network Fleet Discovery database shows six Kodiaks are in service in Brazil. A comparison with the Caravan—202 examples of which are in service in the country—suggests Daher could place many more, says Daher Aircraft CEO Nicolas Chabbert. To sell about 10 Kodiaks per year, Daher has created a sales office for its products in Sao Paulo. It is awaiting the local certification of the Kodiak 900, civil aviation authority ANAC having already approved the Kodiak 100. “With its fleet of more than 25 Caravans, Azul Conecta is a target,” Chabbert says.
He intends to grow TBM sales in the country as well, aiming to double their market share in three years. According to Aviation Week Fleet Discovery, 53 TBMs are in service in Brazil.
The U.S. still accounts for 75% of the demand for TBMs and Kodiaks, Chabbert says. The company has seen success with broadening the Kodiak’s customer base to U.S. agencies and states.
Multimission aircraft now represent 50% of the sales, such as the three Kodiak 100s the Virginia State Police has ordered for surveillance missions.
The TBM 960 is seeing similar encouraging results, as Canada-based Conair received the two aircraft it ordered for firefighting coordination. Daher’s salespersons hope that is just the beginning of a broader fleet replacement, as Conair’s Rockwell Turbo Commander TC-690As are aging.
The TBM’s traditional customer base of owner-pilots have shown hesitation when the Trump administration was devising tariffs. “The uncertainty is almost over,” Chabbert says. “Combined Kodiak and TBM sales now stand at 80 aircraft since the beginning of the year, down just five aircraft orders compared to previous years in the same period.”
In Stuart, Daher has yet to choose a contractor to build the new factory. “The first TBM will roll out the facility early in 2027,” Chabbert predicts. In a first phase, production will start from subassemblies at an advanced stage.
Daher engineers are working on a hybrid-electric version of one of Daher’s products. “We still believe in the concept but will not deliver the first aircraft in 2027, contrary to what we said,” Chabbert says. “As the entire aviation sector, we have been disappointed with battery performance.” Daher wants to offer an aircraft to its usual customer base, as opposed to the kind of niche some electric or hybrid-electric aviation startups are pursuing.
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