Daher expands Kodiak production capacity
The ramped-up production capacity at its Sandpoint, Idaho, facility is in response to high demand – much of it from the special missions sector
Aerospace firm Daher – the manufacturer of the Kodiak turboprop utility aircraft – has increased manufacturing capacity at its facility in Sandpoint, in the US state of Idaho.
The ramped-up production capacity will allow the company to manufacture and assemble more Kodiak 100 and Kodiak 900 planes per year. Daher is now hoping to produce 25 Kodiak aircraft in 2024 – compared with a total of 18 in 2023.
The improvements include the addition of a second final assembly line, allowing for “parallel integration steps for the Kodiak 100 and 900”.
“The production enhancement announced today responds to the strong demand across the customer base,” explained Nicolas Chabbert, Senior Vice President of Daher’s Aircraft Division.
This demand, he continued, was coming from “private owner-operators, government agencies, and special mission operators, for applications such as wildfire suppression, environmental monitoring, law enforcement and medical evacuation”.
He also noted that since Daher acquired the Kodiak brand in 2019, the aircraft continues to have a “two-year order backlog”.
The enhancements follow other improvements implemented at Sandpoint by Daher, including a new US$2.7 million aircraft painting facility.
Daher was the first original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to join the US-based United Aerial Firefighters Association (UAFA) aerial firefighting advisory group in early 2023.
Oliver Cuenca
Oliver Cuenca is a Junior Editor at AirMed&Rescue. He was previously a News and Features Journalist for the rail magazine IRJ until 2021, and studied MA Magazine Journalism at Cardiff University. His favourite helicopter is the AW169 – the workhorse of the UK air ambulance sector! He also led the creation of Waypoint: The AirMed&Rescue podcast, serving as its Production Editor and co-host.