Cessna 208 Caravan N399TT at Daytona Beach, Florida, in March 2023. · Photo: ZLEA, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Cessna · Turboprop
Caravan (208)
The original short-body Caravan, still built today; the stretched Grand Caravan models grew from it.
The short-body Caravan is the default utility turboprop: simple, tough, flown by one pilot and supported almost everywhere. It cruises at up to 186 knots and carries over 3,000 lb, but it is unpressurized, has no standard toilet and suits trips under 800 nautical miles.
Buy it if
You need to carry people and bulky cargo together, land on gravel, grass or water, and want the most widely supported single-engine turboprop, with used asking prices from about $1.2 million to $2.5 million.
Skip it if
Your trips are mostly 500-plus nautical miles between paved airports, passengers expect a quiet pressurized cabin and a toilet, or you need to fly over high mountains without oxygen masks. A PC-12 or TBM fits that mission better.
Biggest compromise
No pressurization. Above 12,500 feet the pilot soon needs oxygen, and above 15,000 feet passengers must be offered it, so most Caravan trips stay around 8,000 to 12,000 feet, in the bumps and weather.
The numbers that matter
Purchase price
$2.25M
typical asking · $1.18M–$2.5M
What it costs per year
$448K
at 300 hrs · one professional pilot
How far it flies
1,070 nm
400–965 nm with passengers
How fast
186 kt
high-speed cruise
Seats
8
8 typical, up to 9 passengers
Pilots needed
1
Certified for one pilot; many owners fly it themselves after turbine training their insurer requires.
Price
What one costs to buy
Typical asking price
$2,250,000
Where asking prices sit
Low
$1.18M
Typical
$2.25M
High
$2.5M
Most asking prices fall inside this band.
Other sites
2.9% of the fleet
6-month move
Priced vs call
with a price / call for price
Seven priced listings run $1.18M to $2.5M. Aircraft Bluebook values 2019–2023 models at $2.07M–$2.5M and a 2025 model at $2.8M.
Price vs its family and alternatives
Scroll to explore · select a jet for details
Caravan (208) · This aircraft
$2.25M
Sits between the Grand Caravan 208B and the Grand Caravan EX.
For sale now
None listed right now
Cost to own
What it costs per year to run
300hours / year
Per year
Per flight hour
Estimate — your operator will quote actual numbers.
Fuel, airframe and propeller maintenance, engine program or overhaul reserve and landing fees, cleaning and miscellaneous rise as you fly more. One professional pilot, recurrent training, hangar, insurance and subscriptions and databases stay the same however much you fly.
Where the money goes
- One professional pilot$115,00026%
- Recurrent training$9,0002%
- Hangar$27,5006%
- Insurance$26,0006%
- Subscriptions and databases$6,0001%
- Fuel$125,89528%
- Airframe and propeller maintenance$67,50015%
- Engine program or overhaul reserve$61,50014%
- Landing fees, cleaning and miscellaneous$10,0002%
Fuel is the biggest single cost at 28% of the total.
The JetGrade
75 out of 100 — Clearly above its class
Peer group: Daher Kodiak 100 Series III, Pilatus PC-6 Porter, Pacific Aerospace P-750 XSTOL, Texas Turbines DHC-3 Turbo Otter
Seven categories at a glance
- - - 70 = typical— This aircraft
Strongest on reliability & support, weakest on running costs.
Grades are editorial opinions about the model, not any specific aircraft. Sponsors and affiliates have no input. Reviewed 2026-10-02.
Where it flies
Sample trips and reach
Typical trips on a map
Nonstop
Depends on weight or weather
Fuel stop likely
2 of 6 sample trips are comfortable nonstops.
Sample flight times
- 1.5 hr
Carlsbad → Las Vegas
205 nm · Easy nonstop with fuel to spare
- 3.9 hr
Carlsbad → Aspen
625 nm · Oxygen needed over the Rockies; Aspen weather rules
- 4.7 hr
Santa Ana → San José del Cabo
765 nm · Nonstop with four passengers and full reserves
- 6.0 hr
Teterboro → West Palm Beach
900 nm · Nonstop only at slower cruise with light bags
- 7.4 hr
Dallas → Teterboro
1,190 nm · One fuel stop, typically mid-route
- 13.0 hr
Carlsbad → Teterboro
2,100 nm · Two fuel stops; a full day of flying
Lineage
What came before and after
1985–present
Caravan 208
Original short-body Caravan; 675 shp engine standard since 1998.
Size and cabin
How big it is, inside and out
Outside
Silhouette · scaled to length
Length
Wingspan
Height
Inside the cabin
Cabin length
Width
Height
Compare
How it stacks up
This aircraft
Caravan (208)
- JetGrade
- 75
- Price
- $2.25M
- Cost per year
- $448K
- Range
- 1,070 nm
- Speed
- 186 kt
- Seats
- 8
- Cabin length
- 12′ 9″
- Pilots
- 1
- Years built
- 1985–now
Alternative
- JetGrade
- 70
- Cost per year
- $185K
- Range
- 1,132 nm
- Speed
- 174 kt
- Seats
- 6
- Cabin length
- 15′ 10″
- Pilots
- 1
- Years built
- 2021–now
Alternative
- JetGrade
- 77
- Price
- $2.65M
- Cost per year
- $467K
- Range
- 912 nm
- Speed
- 185 kt
- Seats
- 8
- Cabin length
- 16′ 9″
- Pilots
- 1
- Years built
- 2013–now
Alternative
- JetGrade
- 79
- Price
- $4.42M
- Cost per year
- $524K
- Range
- 1,830 nm
- Speed
- 280 kt
- Seats
- 6
- Cabin length
- 16′ 11″
- Pilots
- 1
- Years built
- 2008–2020
- Daher Kodiak 100 Series III instead: Shorter takeoff and landing distances and a modern Garmin cockpit, but a smaller fleet, fewer service shops and a narrower cabin.
- Cessna Grand Caravan EX instead: Four feet longer with room for more seats or cargo, and an 867 shp engine that climbs far better on hot, high days, at a higher price.
- Pilatus PC-12 NG instead: Pressurized and about 100 knots faster, so passengers ride above the weather with a toilet aboard, but it costs more to buy and needs longer runways.
Gold marks the best figure in each row.
Owning one
What to know before you buy
Engines & inspections
1 × Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-114A · 675 shp each
No APUEngine hours until overhaul
- Engine hot section inspection · 1,800 hr
- Engine overhaul · 3,600 hr
- Propeller overhaul · 4,000 hr
- High-time structural inspection · 20,000 hr
- Annual inspection every 12 months
Many Caravan engines are on a pay-per-hour plan from Pratt & Whitney Canada or Textron, which smooths overhaul costs and helps resale.
Known issues
Strict icing limits
Known-icing flight needs de-ice boots, a low-airspeed alert and 120-knot minimums, and moderate or worse icing is prohibited.
Engine turbine blade directives
All PT6A-114A engines need repeat turbine blade borescopes; some repaired vanes and blades must be replaced at about $92,000 to $117,000.
Hard-working commercial histories
Many Caravans flew cargo, skydiving or airline routes; 20,000-plus landings and high-time structural inspections need careful records review.
Pre-buy checklist
0 of 10 checked
Textron Aviation supports the Caravan through 20 company service centers, more than 300 authorized facilities and mobile service units, and the PT6A engine is supported worldwide. The model remains in production.
Review
The full review
Strengths
- Carries about 3,305 lb of fuel, people and cargo, with a 49-by-50-inch cargo door that swallows bulky loads.
- Lifts off in about 1,160 feet and stops in about 715 feet of ground roll at sea level; floats are approved.
- Backed by 20 Textron service centers, more than 300 authorized shops and over 3,100 Caravan-family aircraft delivered.
Limitations
- Unpressurized, with no standard toilet; flights above 12,500 feet require oxygen.
- Full tanks leave about 1,081 lb for pilot, passengers and bags, so four passengers with light bags is the full-fuel limit.
- Everyday cruise of 160 to 170 knots is well behind pressurized singles such as the PC-12 at around 280 knots.
The Cessna 208 Caravan is the single-engine turboprop most people picture when they think of a bush plane or island airliner. Cessna flew the first one in December 1982, won FAA approval in October 1984 and delivered the first aircraft in 1985. This page covers the original short-body Caravan, about 37 feet 7 inches long. Since May 1998 it has used a 675-horsepower Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-114A engine; earlier aircraft have the 600-horsepower PT6A-114. Cessna later stretched the design into the 208B Grand Caravan and the Grand Caravan EX, but Textron Aviation still builds the short Caravan, now with a Garmin G1000 NXi cockpit, and more than 3,100 Caravan-family aircraft have been delivered.
Pilot's take
Pilot reports describe the Caravan as a big, stable, forgiving airplane that behaves more like a light truck than a sports car. The PT6A is easy to manage, the reversible propeller shortens landings on gravel and water, and the G1000 NXi cockpit is familiar to many owners. It rewards discipline: watch weight and balance with full cabins and cargo pods, respect the icing limits and minimum speeds, and plan oxygen for mountain crossings. Climb is modest on hot, high days with the standard engine, which is why some operators choose 850- to 900-horsepower conversions.
Who this is for
Owners and operators who value what the aircraft can carry and where it can land over speed: lodges and ranches, float and island flyers, skydive and survey outfits, small airlines, missions and families hauling gear to places without long paved runways.
Ask about this aircraft
Answers come only from our research file on the Caravan 208.
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