Press Release

Issued by Daher Aerospace.

July 31, 2013

Daher-Socata today announced at the AirVenture Oshkosh air show in Wisconsin, where a Model Year TBM 850 Elite version is being exhibited, that its customer Voldirect attained the 100-flight hour milestone in commercial operations on with the TBM 850, flying every business day and carrying 200 passengers to date.

This France-based charter company is the first single engine operator to receive an Air Operator's Certificate (AOC) that allows it to fly commercial passengers in instrument meteorological conditions on the Daher-Socata TBM 850. A certificate awarded officially on June 20th at the Paris Air Show, after European Commission's approval of the new public passenger transportation mode. Daher-Socata's announcement of the Voldirect's commercial flight milestone was made.

The high reliability of the TBM 850's Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 turboprop powerplant – which has accumulated more than 350 million overall flight hours– made possible the evolution of regulations to allow the use of a single-engine pressurized aircraft for the public transport of passengers in instrument meteorological conditions.

The European Aviation Safety Authority (EASA) currently is working on the development of its rules in order to add this type of operation as applied in France for Voldirect.

"After logging a combined one million flight hours in operations around the world, our TBM family has now reached another significant milestone with the recognition of its high level of safety and reliability by France's DGAC and European authorities," commented Stéphane Mayer, president and ceo of Daher-Socata, the Daher aerospace and defense business.

Founded in 2012, Voldirect is a French business charter operator based in Rennes. Its creators are heads of companies based in Britanny – a region where not all transportation needs were met by the scheduled airlines. The carrier now employs six people, including three pilots.

Voldirect also is the first commercial operator in France approved for the use of iPad 3 electronic documentation for all phases of flight, replacing traditional printed aeronautical charts.

The company is operating its first TBM 850 from Rennes Airport, serving customers in western France. Based on the development of its activity, other TBM 850 aircraft – or the TBM 700 version of Daher-Socata's very fast turboprop – could be integrated into its fleet at additional bases in France.

Nicolas Chabbert, the senior vice president of Daher-Socata's airplane division, congratulated Voldirect for receiving the first Air Operator's Certificate delivered to a pressurized single-turboprop operator in France,” stated.

"This is the culmination of 20 years of efforts to change the rules by demonstrating that such aircraft offer a level of reliability and safety equivalent to other commercial aircraft in carrying passengers,” he added. “We soon expect to see the adoption of this new regulation by the EASA based on the French experience."