Grand Caravan EX

The Cessna Grand Caravan EX is the stretched, more powerful member of the Caravan family — the single-engine utility turboprop that forms the backbone of regional passenger, cargo and special-mission flying across much of the developing world. The EX designation marks the uprated Pratt & Whitney PT6A-140 engine, which restores strong performance to the longer fuselage, improving climb, hot-and-high capability and payload.

Built around a high wing, fixed gear and famously robust systems, it carries up to fourteen passengers or a substantial freight load from short and unimproved strips that jets and many turboprops cannot use. Garmin G1000 NXi avionics modernise the flight deck, and the aircraft is offered in passenger, cargo-pod, float and special-mission configurations, cruising around 185 knots on the ubiquitous, globally supported PT6A.

The Grand Caravan EX is the rational choice when the mission is moving people or cargo short-to-medium distances at the lowest practical cost, from airfields with little infrastructure, and a pressurised cabin is not required. Operators wanting speed, pressurisation or range will look to a PC-12; those building rugged, high-utilisation regional and NSOP networks find few aircraft that match the Caravan's economics and durability.