The ten-seat PC-12 NGX against the faster TBM 960, the two single-engine turboprops most step-up owners cross-shop on cabin and speed.
The PC-12 is not merely a slower TBM 960. It is a different kind of asset, built around a large cabin, useful load, cargo access and the ability to change between passenger and utility work. The TBM is the more coherent owner-flown travelling machine when most sectors carry a small party and time saved on every trip matters more than cabin volume. Both require turbine-level training and support, so the deciding evidence is the manifest rather than the performance row: if the typical load fits the TBM comfortably, carrying unused PC-12 capability is an expensive habit; if it does not, speed cannot repair the mission.
The table below uses the same versioned PlaneFit dataset as the Finder. Prices and operating costs are planning estimates, not quotations.
| Decision factor | Pilatus PC-12 NGXView aircraft profile | Daher TBM 960View aircraft profile |
|---|---|---|
| Typical market year | 2023 | 2023 |
| Estimated purchase | €5.26m | €4.37m |
| Annual cash cost at 80 h | €260k | €194k |
| Five-year cash outlay | €6.57m | €5.34m |
| Cruise speed | 290 kt | 330 kt |
| Advertised range | 1803 nm | 1730 nm |
| Seats | 10 | 6 |
| Realistic payload | 975 kg | 272 kg |
| Runway need | 758 m | 726 m |
| Landing gear | Retractable tricycle | Retractable tricycle |
| Ratings and endorsements | Type rating, Complex airplane endorsement, High-altitude training | Type rating, Complex airplane endorsement, High-altitude training |
| Data confidence | Normalized for direct comparison | Normalized for direct comparison |
| Main trade-off | Exceptional cabin, payload and runway versatility, but acquisition and professional-grade support costs are substantial. | One of the fastest owner-flown turboprops with simple power management, but it is costly and was superseded quickly by the TBM 980. |
A factual first pass. Mission, condition and configuration can outweigh a brochure advantage.
They do not cross. The Daher TBM 960 is the cheaper of the two at every utilisation from zero to 300 hours a year, on purchase and running cost together, so there is no break-even point to find. That is worth knowing plainly: on cost alone this is not a trade-off, and the case for the other aircraft has to be made on mission, cabin, speed or access rather than on eventual savings.
| Five-year cash, including purchase | Pilatus PC-12 NGX | Daher TBM 960 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40 h / year | $6.82m (€6.32m) | $5.56m (€5.15m) | $1.26m (€1.16m) to Daher TBM 960 |
| 100 h / year | $7.23m (€6.69m) | $5.86m (€5.43m) | $1.36m (€1.26m) to Daher TBM 960 |
| 200 h / year | $7.9m (€7.32m) | $6.37m (€5.89m) | $1.53m (€1.42m) to Daher TBM 960 |
The gap widens as utilisation rises, which is the part a headline price comparison hides. Every figure uses the same planning model as the rest of the site: indicative market prices, a fixed annual base and a direct hourly cost, before financing, depreciation and tax.
Advertised range is a still-air, best-case number. With 4 people aboard and realistic reserves, plan on about 1,208 nm from the Pilatus PC-12 NGX against 1,159 nm from the Daher TBM 960. On a return trip without refuelling, that is the radius that decides which destinations are on the list at all.
Against the 28,815 airports in the PlaneFit database that publish a runway length, the Pilatus PC-12 NGX has enough runway at 20,678 of them and the Daher TBM 960 at 21,471, comparing each aircraft’s take-off requirement of 2,487 ft and 2,382 ft against the longest runway on the field.
This is a planning comparison, not a statement that any particular operation is legal or advisable. It ignores surface, slope, elevation, temperature, obstacles and how heavily the aircraft is loaded, all of which extend the requirement. It also compares take-off distance only: landing distance is frequently the binding constraint and PlaneFit does not hold approved landing distances, so a field in these counts is not necessarily a field you can get back out of, or into.
Nothing separates them here. Both require a type rating, a complex airplane endorsement, a high-altitude training, so a pilot qualified for one is qualified for the other.
Ten-seat pressurized executive and utility turboprop. Its central ownership trade-off is: Exceptional cabin, payload and runway versatility, but acquisition and professional-grade support costs are substantial.
Planning snapshot: $5.69m (€5.26m) indicative price and $281k (€260k) annual cash cost at 80 hours.
Read the full aircraft profileSix-seat FADEC pressurized high-speed turboprop. Its central ownership trade-off is: One of the fastest owner-flown turboprops with simple power management, but it is costly and was superseded quickly by the TBM 980.
Planning snapshot: $4.71m (€4.37m) indicative price and $210k (€194k) annual cash cost at 80 hours.
Read the full aircraft profile