Hawker Beechcraft (HBC) announced here this week the delivery of the first European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certified piston singles and twins to enter service in Europe. Three new Bonanza G36 single-engine aircraft went to a customer in the UK and one Baron G58 twin to a customer in Poland.

“There has been great interest in Europe for the Baron G58 and Bonanza G36,” said Hawker Beechcraft v-p of international sales Sean McGeough. “We are pleased to make the first European deliveries of our upgraded piston products and look forward to more activity in this region of the world.”

A Baron G58 and a Bonanza G36 are on display here at EBACE. Both are equipped with Garmin G1000 avionics and GFC700 integrated flight control systems. The Baron also features the new GWX 68 color weather radar and offers optional Jeppesen chart coverage for Europe and other worldwide regions. The combined package affords improved situational awareness, increased functionality and reduced pilot workload.

HBC also announced realignment of its global customer-service-and-support field service representatives, the first point of contact for all in-service related inquiries and support. “Our field service representatives serve as a direct connection to HBC’s product-support system,” said William Brown, president of HBC global customer service and support. “As our fleet of aircraft in Europe increases, we will continue focusing on ways to provide the best service and support to our customers.”

Meanwhile, HBC continues to focus on international customers and sales, which account for a significant part of its $7.3 billion backlog. The company has enhanced its sales infrastructure, strengthened its international sales team and secured other international certifications aside from EASA.

“Despite the economic downturn, we continue to see pockets of strength in Europe and our other international markets such as Asia and Middle East countries,” McGeough said.