Used Piston Single and Turboprop Aircraft Values Increased Sharply in January, Driven by Older Aircraft

The latest Sandhills Global aviation industry market reports track the recent dramatic rise in the asking values for piston single and turboprop aircraft. Year-over-year trends for January illustrate these major gains. From January 2021 to January 2022, piston single aircraft asking values were up 20.4%, and turboprop aircraft asking values were up 12% YOY. Low inventory levels continue to drive the value increases across piston single and turboprop aircraft.

Sandhills' aviation products include Controller, Controller EMEA, Executive Controller, Charter Hub, Aviation Trader, Aircraft Cost Calculator, and AircraftEvaluator. AircraftEvaluator is Sandhills' proprietary asset valuation tool for all types of aircraft, built using the same technology behind FleetEvaluator. Widely used and trusted across equipment, truck, and trailer industries, FleetEvaluator identifies asset values with unparalleled accuracy.

The key metric used in all of Sandhills' market reports is the Sandhills Equipment Value Index (EVI). Buyers and sellers can use the information in Sandhills EVI to monitor equipment markets and maximize returns on acquisition, liquidation, and related business decisions. For 2022, Sandhills has enhanced its EVI with new metrics. The data now includes model year equipment actively in use, which grows the used equipment population beyond aircraft available in retail markets. New EVI data, already available for the United States, is also now available for Canada to better reflect aircraft values by location. The enhanced version of Sandhills EVI requires Sandhills to restate the values starting in January 2022, so prior numbers will not be comparable to the new, more insightful values.

Chart Takeaways This report includes detailed analysis of asking values and inventory trends in the U.S. used aircraft market along with charts that help readers visualize the data. This report provides vital trends for the 25-year-plus age groups in used piston single and turboprop aircraft. The 25-year-plus age group is the largest inventory category for both types of aircraft. 

U.S. & Canada Used Piston Single Aircraft

• Average asking values for used piston single aircraft grew by $38,000 YOY in January, moving from $187,000 in 2021 to $225,000 in 2022.
• Inventory levels for piston single aircraft were down 40% YOY. Nearly half of piston single aircraft fall into the 25-year-plus age group. The Sandhills EVI finds the 25-year-plus age group also displayed the steepest asking value increase among age group categories, gaining 27.9% YOY.

U.S. & Canada Used Turboprop

• The Sandhills EVI charts a $170,000 YOY increase in average asking values for turboprop aircraft, rising from $1,390,000 in January 2021 to $1,560,000 in January 2022.
• Used turboprop aircraft inventory was down 66% YOY. More than two-thirds of the turboprop category consists of the 25-year-plus age group. Similar to aging trends in piston single aircraft, 25-year-plus turboprop aircraft displayed the highest asking value increase among age groups, jumping 20.1% YOY in January.