A ‘turboprop’ or ‘propjet’ is a propeller aircraft powered by a jet engine.
Although turboprop aircraft generate a lower speed than their jet-engined equivalents, they are more economical and offer greater accessibility to smaller airports with limited runways due to their short take-off and landing distance capabilities.
Turboprops are available in all capacities, but when it comes to business and private aviation, we talk about turboprops having a pressurized but small cabin for between 4 and 7 passengers, mostly without a stand-up cabin.
Range limitations and relatively high cabin noise profile turboprops more for the use of flight legs of up to 2 hours.
Examples
- BEECHCRAFT King Air Series 90, 100, 200 and 300
- EMBRAER Xingu
- PIAGGIO Avanti I/II
- PILATUS PC-12
- SOCATA TBM
Characteristics
- Low speed (400 km/h) but cost-efficient
- Short-range
- Small cabin (4 – 7/19 pax; no stand-up)
- Short take-off and landing distance potential