I must admit, it was tempting to pull out the article on the King Air market I wrote last year about this time, change the dates and submit!
The reality is that not much has changed in the past year. We’ve seen some softness in the King Air 350 market, but other than that, if you’re in the market to buy a King Air, it’s still tough to find a nice airplane at a price that makes sense. It may be tempting to pay a premium and settle for a below-average airplane. The problem is these purchases often come back to haunt you in the future.
The lack of inventory may sound like good news for sellers, but the reality is that even with the market being incredibly tight, we’re currently seeing downward price pressure. While nice examples of our beloved King Airs are hard to come by, there are other airplanes that may suit a buyer’s needs and are more obtainable. In the past year, we’ve had acquisition clients who decided to purchase Socata TBMs, Cessna Citation M2/CJ2+/CJ3 models and Pilatus PC-12 aircraft instead of King Airs, simply because it was too difficult to find a King Air that met their requirements.
The strength of the King Air market has always been the vast number of airframes produced. However, most of the King Air fleet was produced prior to the year 2000, and a stunning fact I just discovered is that the year 2000 was 25 YEARS AGO!
The glory days of Beechcraft production were the late 70s and early 80s. Beech was building more than 100 King Airs every year in the early 1980s! Production numbers have declined since. In fact, the company delivered fewer than 2,800 King Airs of all models in the past two and a half decades. During that same time frame, nearly 4,000 turboprops that are direct competitors to the Beechcraft King Air have been manufactured – and that number doesn’t count the thousands of jets produced during the same period.
Why doesn’t everyone buy a TBM 850 or M2 instead of a C90B? Or why not a Pilatus or CJ2+/CJ3 instead of a King Air B200/250?
Because there’s just nothing like a King Air!
When you crunch all the numbers, consider all the factors and weigh all the pros and cons, it’s hard to beat the venerable King Air.
Here is how the King Air market looks by model. Feel free to give me a call if you wish to discuss specific details; there are too many models and options to cover everything in a single article.
King Air 90 Series
The King Air 90 series encompasses several models, primarily divided by age roughly around the C90A/B model break. The market for legacy 90 series units is tight, but there are a lot of airframes. It’s tough to find a pedigree airplane with Blackhawk engines and an upgraded Garmin panel. If you’re less picky, the legacy 90 series airplanes can represent a good value. I’ve always been fond of the F90; it’s a lot of airplane for the money.
The later model King Air C90B/GT/GTi/GTx did represent a good value compared to the B200/250, but the scarcity of these airframes has leveled the playing field. Late model 90s are bringing a premium. Since they don’t make them anymore, the fleet will continue to shrink.
King Air 200 Series
The 200/B200/B200GT/250/260 make up the King Air 200 series, representing most of the King Airs flying. Each model has its nuances and to some extent its own market. The center of the King Air universe is undisputably the King Air B200! The King Air 200 was introduced in 1974, and with the addition of several upgrades including -42 engines, the B200 made its debut in 1981. The King Air B200 would be in continuous production from mid-1981 until the last B200 was delivered to the Royal Flying Doctor Service in 2014, making it one of the longest production runs of any aircraft model. The B200 became such a staple that operators continued to order it for years after the model was replaced in 2008 by the B200GT, featuring -52 engines!
The length of the production run combined with the massive number of options and upgrades make the B200 market the single most complex market we follow. As time goes by, that complexity continues to increase. There has been a shift in what is considered legacy and what is considered late model. I think the break seems to fall at the 1999/2000 year mark.
As mentioned above, the later model B200s were produced in much smaller numbers, and many new B200GTs were exported because the market stateside was soft (recall what the U.S. economy was doing in the 2008-2009 time frame). The coveted 2000 or newer, U.S. pedigree, Blackhawk B200 with G1000NXi is a rare bird indeed! It is very difficult to determine fair market values of these late-model King Air B200s because we regularly see these aircraft sell at prices well above what we consider normal market pricing. When we do our sold comparable research, we often hear, “It brought a premium because there’s nothing else out there.”
My advice to potential purchasers of B200s is to proceed with caution, do your homework and understand the market very well. It is easy to overinvest hundreds of thousands of dollars if the buyer is not careful.
King Air 300 Series
The King Air 300/350/350i/360 make up the 300 series, and like the 200 series, each one is related but in a separate market. For the sake of time, we’ll cover the core of the market: the King Air 350. The 350 was introduced in 1990, replacing the King Air 300. It’s longer than the 200/300 airframes, and its most notable difference is the full double-club seating arrangement. This makes the King Air 350/360 unique among aircraft of its size. You’ll have to step up to a fairly large and expensive jet to find true double-club seating for eight adults!
If you are reading this as a King Air 350 seller, I don’t have great news for you: It’s the only King Air market that has slowed down in the past year, mainly due to the fear that King Air 350s operated by Wheels Up are hitting the market and will eventually drive prices down. If you’re a buyer, it is the only King Air market that seems promising right now, but that is subject to change quickly. We anticipate the new U.S. administration will reinstate 100% bonus depreciation, creating another buying frenzy, driving inventory down and prices back up. 
New King Airs
We’ve recently helped clients purchase a factory-new King Air 260 and King Air 360 and even order a Beechcraft Denali, Textron Aviation’s single-engine turboprop expected to earn FAA certification this year. The market for new King Airs is red-hot with prices for “new flips” that are high enough to require supplemental oxygen.
This is based on high demand and relatively low production numbers that have plagued all manufacturers since the pandemic. The bad news is availability is only going to get worse. The King Air is not only popular with owner pilots, businesses and charter operators, it’s also very popular with our military, and they have placed orders (see box on this page) that will consume a good portion of new King Air production.
What does this all mean?
In summary, if you own a King Air, you’ve likely made a very good investment. If you don’t own one yet but wish to, you have two options: Dig deep to find one or consider an alternative.
Want to order a new King Air? You should place your order as soon as possible. Or call me and we’ll talk about the Denali; its streamlined design and ease of manufacture may make it the Beechcraft that you can actually get.
Did I just commit blasphemy? It is a Beechcraft – not a Cessna as originally planned – but it’s not a King Air … or is it?
Stay tuned for more. There’s an article in the works for King Air magazine that will compare the Denali with the King Air. Will King Air loyalists accept it? We’ll all find out together.
Until then, happy buying and happy flying!