A passenger-version Cessna SkyCourier, photographed in July 2026. · Photo: DUNCAN KIRK, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Cessna · Turboprop
SkyCourier 408
Cessna's first all-new twin turboprop in decades, built alongside the single-engine Grand Caravan EX; no predecessor or successor.
The SkyCourier is a very capable new 19-seat utility twin, with a huge square cabin, simple systems and a 6,000-hour engine overhaul interval. It is slow and unpressurized, so it suits short, heavy missions rather than executive travel.
Buy it if
You need to move many people, equipment or freight on legs under about 400 nm, want a new aircraft with factory support, and fly from runways of 4,000 ft or more.
Skip it if
You want a business aircraft for a few passengers. The cabin has commuter seating, there is no pressurization to climb above weather, and a pressurized King Air or used 1900D flies 70 to 100 knots faster.
Biggest compromise
Speed and comfort were traded for payload and simplicity. Without pressurization the SkyCourier usually cruises around 10,000 ft, in the bumps and weather, at about 200 knots.
The numbers that matter
What it costs per year
$945K
at 300 hrs · two professional pilots
How far it flies
920 nm
386–870 nm with passengers
How fast
210 kt
high-speed cruise
Seats
19
19 seats; freighter and combi versions
Pilots needed
1
Certified for one pilot; commercial passenger flights with ten or more seats require two.
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 maintenance, engine program or reserves and other rise as you fly more. Two professional pilots, recurrent training, hangar, insurance and databases and subscriptions stay the same however much you fly.
Where the money goes
- Two professional pilots$257,50027%
- Recurrent training$35,0004%
- Hangar$52,5006%
- Insurance$62,5007%
- Databases and subscriptions$11,5001%
- Fuel$301,86032%
- Airframe maintenance$120,00013%
- Engine program or reserves$87,0009%
- Other$17,5002%
Fuel is the biggest single cost at 32% of the total.
The JetGrade
70 out of 100 — Typical for its class
Peer group: Beechcraft 1900D, Viking DHC-6 Twin Otter 400, Dornier 228NG, Fairchild Metro III / 23
Seven categories at a glance
- - - 70 = typical— This aircraft
Strongest on range & payload, weakest on speed & trip time.
Grades are editorial opinions about the model, not any specific aircraft. Sponsors and affiliates have no input. Reviewed 2026-10-08.
Where it flies
Sample trips and reach
Typical trips on a map
Nonstop
Depends on weight or weather
Fuel stop likely
1 of 6 sample trips are comfortable nonstops.
Sample flight times
- 1.4 hr
Carlsbad → Las Vegas
205 nm · Easy nonstop, even with most seats filled
- 3.7 hr
Carlsbad → Aspen
625 nm · Mountain route; oxygen, icing and weather planning needed
- 4.8 hr
Santa Ana → San José del Cabo
765 nm · Near the limit; light loads and calm winds
- 5.4 hr
Teterboro → West Palm Beach
900 nm · One stop, typically in the Carolinas
- 7.0 hr
Dallas → Teterboro
1,190 nm · Needs one stop, typically mid-route
- 12.7 hr
Carlsbad → Teterboro
2,100 nm · Two stops; a full travel day
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
SkyCourier 408
- JetGrade
- 70
- Cost per year
- $945K
- Range
- 920 nm
- Speed
- 210 kt
- Seats
- 19
- Cabin length
- 23′ 4″
- Pilots
- 1
- Years built
- 2022–now
Alternative
- JetGrade
- 66
- Cost per year
- $1.24M
- Range
- 1,279 nm
- Speed
- 280 kt
- Seats
- 19
- Cabin length
- 25′ 3″
- Pilots
- 1
- Years built
- 1991–2002
Alternative
- JetGrade
- 77
- Cost per year
- $467K
- Range
- 912 nm
- Speed
- 185 kt
- Seats
- 8
- Cabin length
- 16′ 9″
- Pilots
- 1
- Years built
- 2013–now
Alternative
- JetGrade
- 74
- Cost per year
- $976K
- Range
- 2,690 nm
- Speed
- 303 kt
- Seats
- 8
- Cabin length
- 19′ 6″
- Pilots
- 1
- Years built
- 2020–now
- Beechcraft 1900D instead: Pressurized and about 70 knots faster with the same 19 seats. A used example costs a fraction of a new SkyCourier, but it is decades old.
- Cessna Grand Caravan EX instead: The single-engine sibling with the same Garmin cockpit, nine to thirteen seats and about half the annual cost, if you can give up payload and a second engine.
- Beechcraft King Air 360ER instead: Pressurized, around 310 knots and a business cabin. The better choice when your passengers are executives rather than cargo or crews.
Gold marks the best figure in each row.
Owning one
What to know before you buy
Engines & inspections
2 × Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-65SC · 1,110 shp each
Engine hours until overhaul
- Tail spar detailed inspection · 1,600 hr
- Engine overhaul · 6,000 hr
Textron sells pay-per-flight-hour support plans. Confirm which plan covers a given aircraft's engines and whether it transfers to you.
Known issues
Tail spar inspection directive
A supplier manufacturing defect led the FAA to require repeat tail spar crack inspections every 1,600 hours on 40 early aircraft.
Pre-buy checklist
0 of 9 checked
Textron Aviation supports the SkyCourier through its worldwide service centers and 24/7 parts network, and pilots train on a full-motion simulator at FlightSafety in Wichita.
Review
The full review
Strengths
- Hauls 6,000 lb of freight or 19 passengers, and three standard LD3 cargo containers fit through a 7-ft-3-in door.
- Square cabin is 71 in tall, 74 in wide and 23 ft 4 in long, with 32-inch seat pitch.
- Pratt & Whitney PT6A-65SC engines carry a 6,000-hour overhaul interval, and the Garmin G1000 NXi cockpit matches the Caravan's.
Limitations
- Unpressurized, so flights typically stay near 10,000 ft, where weather and turbulence are more common.
- Maximum cruise of 210 knots is about 70 knots slower than a Beechcraft 1900D.
- With all 19 seats filled, range drops to about 386 nm; full fuel leaves only 1,519 lb for people and bags.
The Cessna SkyCourier 408 is Textron Aviation's all-new twin-engine utility turboprop. It was launched in 2017 with a FedEx order for 50 freighters and certified by the FAA in March 2022. It has no predecessor: Cessna designed it from a clean sheet to sit above the single-engine Grand Caravan EX, with the same Garmin G1000 NXi cockpit and engines from the same Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A family. It comes as a freighter, a 19-seat passenger aircraft and a combi that carries both, and about 68 had been delivered by mid-2026.
Pilot's take
From the cockpit, the SkyCourier should feel familiar to anyone who has flown a G1000 NXi Caravan: three 12-inch displays, straightforward systems and two PT6 engines with a long service record. It is approved for one pilot, but its size, its 19,000 lb weight and the CE-408 type rating make it a professional's airplane rather than an owner-pilot step-up. Plan routes around the unpressurized cabin. Specify the full ice-protection package, because most of its flying happens at the altitudes where icing is common. Expect a stable, roomy workhorse that rewards careful loading more than it rewards speed.
Who this is for
Cargo operators, island and regional shuttles, humanitarian and government missions, and owners who move crews, equipment or large groups on short legs. It suits buyers who value payload, a new airframe and factory support more than speed or cabin luxury.
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