In the culmination of a 13-month process, Albany, Ga.-based Thrush Aircraft has received safety certification from Transport Canada for its newest plane model.
The approval opens Canada as the newest potential market for the Georgia-made turbo-prop planes, which are powered by GE engines. The 510G has been recently approved in Argentina and Brazil and has sold briskly in places like China, which placed an order for 20 of the planes last July.
Thrush makes what it calls “application aircraft” used in agriculture and forestry, blanketing farm fields with fertilizer and seed or flaming forests with water. With its planes now operating in 80 countries, the decade-old company has been highlighted by the Georgia Department of Economic Development for its export success.
The company used a $17 million loan guarantee from the Export-Import Bank of the United States to expand sales to Brazil and China after learning about the bank from the U.S. Commercial Service office in Savannah.
See a video about Thrush’s partnership with the state on the FAA certification process here.
