Pilatus built and delivered 127 aircraft during the year under review – 15 more than in 2013. Half of those went to civilian customers, the other half went to air force customers.

The Government Aviation Business Unit looks back on another exceptionally successful year in the military training aircraft market, with another 22 percent rise in sales revenue. No less than seventy percent of total Pilatus year-end sales revenue was generated by Government Aviation. This is obviously very pleasing, but it must be noted that Pilatus has seen years in which General Aviation also delivered 70 percent of total Pilatus turnover. For this reason, Pilatus approach is a two-pillar strategy: it allows the company to even out fluctuations across its business units. The ongoing three major projects for India, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are progressing as planned with all deliveries to customers completed on time so far.

In the USA, the slight recovery in the economic situation impacted positively during the year under review, even if we are far from the “golden times” of pre-2008. Pilatus delivered a total of 66 PC-12 NGs to customers around the world, of which 50 were to the USA.

Work to develop the market in China continues in parallel, and with good results: of the ten Pilatus Porter PC-6s sold during the past year, no fewer than nine went to China.

In the past, Pilatus would invest in aviation projects rather than in concrete. But there comes a time when a change of approach is required, especially in the light of the untenable parking situation at Stans. Pilatus therefore went ahead with the construction of a new car park with four floors and space for over 1000 vehicles. The new logistics building is still under construction. Featuring a fully automated 24m highstorage bay facility, it will be the most expensive and complex building ever erected at Pilatus. And finally, the start of PC-24 series production is drawing closer, and a new assembly hangar shall be essential. The preliminary work is already underway.

Pilatus opened the PC-24 order book last May, at EBACE in Geneva – even though the aircraft existed only on paper at the time. Pilatus took 84 firm orders in just two days! Production is scheduled to start in 2016 and our manufacturing capacity is entirely sold out until the end of 2019.

Following the rollout on 1 August, the first PC-24 prototype is due to make its maiden flight in May 2015. That will be followed by a further round of intensive development work by over 300 engineers in order to satisfy the promised performance standards and make a start on the first deliveries from 2017 onwards.

“I’m proud that we achieved a further increase in operating income in 2014, generating yet another record result – in Swiss francs, too, one of the world’s strongest currencies. That is an achievement in itself, and certainly not something to be taken for granted! As a company, we believe in Switzerland as a place of vision and action, and are firmly committed to further growth here. The Pilatus workforce has grown by 116 full-time jobs to reach a total of 1725 at the head office in Stans – the equivalent of seven percent more Swiss jobs in one year! “

The entire region benefits from our success here at Pilatus. Contracts totalling millions of Swiss francs are awarded to companies in Stans and further afield. The purchasing power of more staff also generates additional revenue for many firms in the region, small and large.