This week the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) announced its member companies’ airplane shipments and billings for the first half of 2007 totaled 1,883 units, a 1.7 percent increase over the same period last year, with industry billings rising 11.7 percent to $9.8 billion.

As in recent years, the numbers associated with turbine-powered aircraft continued to rise while those for piston-powered airplanes dropped slightly. Turboprop shipments rose 15.2 percent from 158 units in 2006 to 182 units over the same period in 2007. Meanwhile, the business jet market segment grew by 14.7 percent, with an increase in shipments from 414 units in the first half of 2006 to 475 units in the first half of 2007. Shipments of piston-powered airplanes through the second quarter of 2007 were down slightly from the same period last year, to 1,226 units, a 4.2 percent decrease.

"The innovative technologies that our manufacturers are showcasing at premier events like AirVenture have a direct correlation with making flying easier and safer," said Pete Bunce, GAMA’s President and CEO. "General aviation manufacturers are committed to creating a renewed interest in flying through the introduction of products that will spur more people worldwide to experience the exhilaration of flight."

GAMA is the international trade association representing more than 50 of the world’s leading manufacturers of general aviation aircraft, engines, avionics and related equipment.