Daher completes acquisition of Quest Aircraft Co.

Daher Group (Wissous, France) recently announced that it has completed its acquisition completion of Quest Aircraft Co. (Sandpoint, Idaho, U.S.), marking a milestone in the growth of Daher's North American operations.

With the acquisition of Quest, the Daher Group says it is now able to deploy its full range of activities in North America: aircraft manufacturing; the production of systems and equipment; and with the supply of logistics and services. 

Daher builds the family of TBM very fast turboprop aircraft at its Tarbes, France facility, and with the acquisition, will add the Quest Aircraft Co.’s assembly operations of the Kodiak utility airplane.

“Our acquisition of the Quest Aircraft Co. is perfectly aligned with Daher’s strategy to intensify its business footprint in America,” says Didier Kayat, Daher CEO. “In addition to adding the Kodiak to our aircraft portfolio, we have now gained a major competitive advantage for all of Daher’s aerospace business lines in North America.”

By expanding its product line to include both the Kodiak and TBM, Daher’s intention is to become the seventh-ranked general aviation airplane manufacturer worldwide, strengthening its position as a leader of high-end single-engine turboprop aircraft. The TBM is the world’s fastest single-engine turboprop-powered airplane, with more than 950 delivered to owners and operators globally. The Kodiak is an all-terrain multi-mission aircraft, with more than 270 in use worldwide by air-taxi, recreational and leisure operators, along with businesses, pilot-owners and humanitarian organizations.

“The integration of Kodiak into Daher’s aircraft family provides us with excellent commercial, industrial and geographical synergies,” says Nicolas Chabbert, senior vice president of the Daher Airplane business unit. “In addition to its production capacity, the Sandpoint, Idaho facility becomes part of our direct sales and maintenance networks, enabling Daher to maintain its competitive edge in the turboprop aircraft sector.”