Italy remains committed to Piaggio despite sale to Turkish drone maker
September 5, 2025
Italy’s Piaggio Aerospace has announced that Italy’s Guardia di Finanza (the Italian Financial Police) has ordered a single P.180 Avanti EVO aircraft. The new aircraft will join the existing fleet that already has two P.180 Avanti II. The Avanti EVO is the third variant of the executive jet.
The contract includes initial logistic support as well as the option for the Financial Police to purchase more aircraft. The Italian government is one of the primary customers of Piaggio, and even more important to the firm after Avantair, a fractional ownership company that flew 56 P.180s, went bankrupt.
The move underscores Italy’s commitment to Piaggio, despite its sale to the Turkish aerospace company, Baykar, in late 2024. The company traces its origin to 1884, when it was established as Rinaldo Piaggio S.p.A. It produced its first plane in 1915, making it one of the world’s oldest remaining aircraft manufacturers.
Piaggio entered receivership in 2018 and declared itself insolvent. The company had struggled since 2008 after its main customer went bankrupt and P.180 EVO sales collapsed. The Italian government committed to €716 million in orders in mid-2019, partly to aid the iconic Italian company.
Italy employs the Piaggio P.180 Avanti across multiple government branches, underlining its versatility as both a workhorse and a symbol of national industry.
The Guardia di Finanza uses the aircraft for coastal surveillance and anti-smuggling missions, while the Italian Air Force and Navy operate them for VIP transport, liaison flights and multicrew training. Several units also serve in medevac and air ambulance roles for government agencies.
Valued for being the world’s fastest twin turboprop, the Avanti combines jet-like speed with turboprop efficiency, making it a cost-effective, flexible and distinctly Italian solution for a wide spectrum of state missions.
Piaggio’s premium P.180 Avanti EVO executive jet
The P.180 Avanti is a turboprop executive/VIP light transport aircraft built in Italy by Piaggio. The aircraft is eye-catching due to its unusual pusher configuration, with the engines facing backwards on the aircraft.
It seats up to seven passengers and has a maximum speed of around 925 km/h, with Piaggio claiming it is the world’s fastest twin turboprop.
Piaggio claims the Avanti EVO is the “most sophisticated aircraft ever designed” in its category. It has a range of over 1,729 nautical miles.
Around 250 P.180 Avantis have been delivered, of which a few dozen are in Italian government service. The aircraft reached one million cumulative flight hours in 2020.
Brand new Piaggio P180 Evo+ started its duty with Italian Air Force for multicrew Combat Support aircrafts training. P180 Evo+ is equipped with upgraded avionics new landing gear equipped with cutting-edge anti-skid braking and guidance systems.
— Ciro Nappi (@CiroNappi6) July 19, 2025
The fastest turboprop in the world pic.twitter.com/ZLcLrn2o5q
According to AIN, Baykar may revive Piaggio’s earlier plans to use the Avanti airframe as the basis for the proposed P.1HH HammerHead medium-altitude long-endurance uncrewed aerial system.
Piaggio as a subsidiary of Baykar
Baykar completed its takeover of troubled Piaggio in June 2025. This brought to an end a long six years of struggles for the firm, which now trades under the name Baykar Piaggio Aerospace.
Baykar is a Turkish company best known for being a world leader in military drones and uncrewed aerial vehicles. The company claims to have a 65% share of the world’s advanced military drone sales.
Its TB2 Baykartar drones gained worldwide fame in the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, although they quickly proved obsolete in that conflict.
The most ambitious advanced loyal wingman drone project is the Kızılelma, which is now entering serial production. Turkey plans to operate these from its future large drone carrier, and it is being considered as a loyal wingman option for the UK/Italian/Japanese 6th-generation GCAP fighter jet under development.
