Baykar acquired Piaggio Aerospace last year and will now invest heavily in the latter’s flagship P.180 Avanti to regain the market share of the popular aircraft.
The Italian Piaggio Aerospace, following the acquisition by Turkish drone major Baykar, is poised for a massive reinvention in market presence under the new name Baykar Piaggio Aerospace. Better maintenance support, spare part availability, increased production numbers and deeper innovation in avionics and engines are some of the measures announced.
Piaggio’s flagship P.180 Avanti and its variants are at the heart of this push, supported by the companies’ combined research and development and production capacities. Piaggio’s legacy, particularly driven by the P.180’s popularity as an aesthetically attractive yet robust multirole turboprop aircraft, would be the lynchpin of this expansion.
Piaggio released two promotional videos last week, interviewing Piaggio Aerospace’s CEO Giovanni Tomassini and Baykar’s CEO Haluk Bayraktar, outlining the steps for carving out a niche for Piaggio’s offerings, in what they envision is a promising global aerospace market.
P.180 Spotlight Features: A 4-Part Series – 1/4: Cruise Speed & Altitude ✈️ pic.twitter.com/ywflnUlVDm
— Piaggio Aerospace (@PiaggioA) December 16, 2025
P.180 Avanti
Piaggio has produced more than 250 P.180 Avanti airframes, with around 220 of them actively flying since 1986, and the overall fleet has logged more than 1.1 million hours. The P.180 started with the Avanti series, followed by the Avanti II, the Avanti Evo, the Avanti Evo+, and then the upcoming Avanti Next that will be unveiled in the coming years.
The Italian Armed Forces, and particularly the Aeronautica Militare (Italian Air Force), are major users of the type. Piaggio announced on Nov. 25, 2024, that it has delivered to the Italian Air Force the first three of 15 planned P.180 Avanti EVO+ aircraft.
The EVO+ is a military variant of the EVO specifically designed for the ItAF, according to Janes, featuring improved dual-zone digitally controlled air-conditioning, digitally controlled pressurisation system, cabin interior, and braking systems. Once in service, the aircraft received the military designation VC-180C.
Brand new Piaggio P180 Evo+ started its duty with Italian Air Force for multicrew Combat Support aircrafts training. P180 Evo+ is equipped with upgraded avionics new landing gear equipped with cutting-edge anti-skid braking and guidance systems.
The fastest turboprop in the world pic.twitter.com/ZLcLrn2o5q
— Ciro Nappi (@CiroNappi6) July 19, 2025
By mid-Jul. 2025, another P.180 EVO+ was reported to be delivered to the ItAF. The service is also retrofitting some of the 14 Avanti I aircraft in its fleet, which will be redesignated Avanti II+.
#PiaggioAerospace: the first retrofitted P.180 Avanti II+ delivered to the @ItalianAirForce.https://t.co/9VDZcjNQPD#avantievo #aeronauticamilitare #italianairforce #forzearmate @SM_Difesa pic.twitter.com/bmg7SVBNLZ
— Piaggio Aerospace (@PiaggioA) November 30, 2023
Billed as one of the fastest turboprops available today, the P.180 is distinctively sleek and futuristic, distinguished by its twin wing-mounted pusher propellers, front canards and straight wings mounted behind the passenger cabin area. The company also developed an unmanned system based on the original P.180, called the P.1HH HammerHead, although the program suffered many setbacks during development.
Piaggio Aerospace CEO Giovanni Tomassini
During the interview featured in the Jan. 9, 2026 video, Tomassini described the P.180 as a fantastic and flexible platform that has a huge potential in terms of development. “You can use it as an air ambulance, VIP transportation or as we are trying to collaborate with one of the major Italian companies as multi-roll petrol aircraft,” he further added. A Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) derived from the Avanti II was also unveiled 10 years ago.
“So P180 is here to restart. Engines are there to continue to be produced. There are two R&D sectors for which I think we are going to work on. One is avionics and the second one is engine. Both sectors have a lot of history and heritage. Together with Baykar, we have a chance to carry out additional study and prove the usage of different materials with different specifications,” Tomassini added.
Piaggio Aerospace awarded 46M euro orders by the Italian Ministry of Defencehttps://t.co/QN816xkQT4#piaggioaerospace #avantievo #MinistryofDefence #Viper #CAE #FrecceTricolori #ItalianAirForce pic.twitter.com/OUdumH72Y4
— Piaggio Aerospace (@PiaggioA) September 23, 2022
Engine components manufacturing, including final assembling and testing, is another Piaggio specialization. The company has agreements with leading French engine maker Safran on the Ardiden 3, RTM322 and Aneto helicopter engine families.
Baykar CEO Haluk Bayraktar
In the Jan. 12 video, Baykar Piaggio Aerospace chairman Haluk Bayraktar said the acquisition of Piaggio Aerospace is supported by the production and Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facilities in Villanova and Genova, the which allow to have the P.180 and “engine parts manufacturing [..] all under one roof.”
“You have an aircraft which is very unique in design. It’s the fastest turboprop. So all together Piaggio with its facilities, the legacy, the brand and together with the support of Baykar with the new innovations in the field of drones we see a bright future,” Bayraktar added. He then announced plans to scale up production of the P.180 from the current four to five aircrafts per year to 25 to 30 airframes by next year, an effort he says is enabled by both the current setup and supply chain support.
Investments in upgrades and engine enhancements
P.180’s pilots and operators “want it back,” says the company, driving Baykar’s push for new upgrades to make the P.180 plane “attractive again [and] get its share in the market.” Bayraktar identified Garmin avionics as one of the upgrades they are “investing heavily” in, in line with that manufacturer’s products being currently popular in the industry.
Innovation knows no borders. Italian elegance meets Baykar’s engineering as a new era takes flight. @BaykarTech pic.twitter.com/7f3w2Tz8ai
— Piaggio Aerospace (@PiaggioA) December 12, 2025
The new push will also supplement the existing Italian design and aesthetics with new interior designs, supported by “digital cabin pressurization system, new environmental, conditioning systems, and new satellite communication technologies.” Increasing the time between each inspection and maintenance stop, along with the avionics upgrades, has been a “longstanding” customer request, says the company, all of which will be collectively addressed in the P-180 Avanti Next.
Precision starts on the ground, excellence continues in the air ✈️ pic.twitter.com/LvMoeAi9Ap
— Piaggio Aerospace (@PiaggioA) December 14, 2025
Together with the Avanti Next, Baykar and Piaggio will also revive deals with the existing authorized service and repair centers, as well as explore new ones and plan a new logistics center in the U.S., which Piaggio says is its “biggest market.” In fact, of the 220 P.180s flying today, around 100 are based in the U.S., while the remaining 100 are in Europe.
Winter skies never looked this good. Hello, 2026. pic.twitter.com/t2sf3715Wm
— Piaggio Aerospace (@PiaggioA) January 3, 2026
Bayraktar also mentioned Baykar’s joint venture with Italy’s Leonardo, LBA Systems, which recently announced localizing production in the country for nearly all its UCAVs. “Piaggio has great engine parts manufacturing capability on various processes from coating to grinding to machining to testing engines […]. In this year’s plan we will invest in the machinery to increase the capacities of the engine parts manufacturing and MRO,” Bayraktar explained.
He also praised the P.180’s robust airframe and sturdy wing design, as well as the level of comfort that he experienced while flying in one of two aircrafts Baykar purchased – one second-hand, and a new P.180 Avanti Evo. He noted the aircraft’s laminar flow and short wing span offset any discomfort and bumps in the poor weather, additionally pointing to its large cabin space for seven seater and the smooth ride of jet aircraft, and fuel economy.
