TBM 980 revealed

The TBM 980 comes equipped with the Garmin G3000 Prime integrated flight deck featuring three 14-inch edge-to-edge responsive touch-screen displays, a significant power and memory boost for improved performance and higher refresh rates, and multi-touch displays. The app-based interface includes shortcuts that enable pilots to access radios, transponder, flight plan, and procedures without having to navigate through multiple menus—improving ergonomics and reducing pilot workload.

“The aircraft is more intuitive and easier to operate. Its touchscreen-controlled flight deck truly revolutionizes the interface between pilots and the avionics, while the passenger experience is further elevated in the six-seat cabin,” said CEO of Daher Aircraft Nicolas Chabbert in the manufacturer’s press release.

The six seats include the pilot's seat, and the cabin can be configured with fewer seats in favor of extended storage area, or to hold an elite privacy compartment. Connecting through Starlink Mini, passengers are able to charge and work on all of their electronic devices, with a 100-watt USB charging port at each seat, and an upgraded cabin display for enroute flight information.

Daher’s e-copilot, a proprietary suite of safety technologies, leverages the avionics to provide safety features such as an emergency descent mode and the HomeSafe Emergency Autoland system—technology developed by Garmin that has become standard equipment on most single- and twin-engine turboprops.

Garmin’s GWX 8000 StormOptix weather radar offers precision target imaging with excellent range and performance, eliminating the requirement to manually adjust the radar. Settings can be tuned to 3D profiling of storm cells.

In addition, the fuel system has been designed to operate without icing inhibitors like Prist and is equipped with an automatic ice detection and activation system.

Adapted from the successful TBM 960 (Daher delivered 56 of this model in 2024, and another 29 through the third quarter of 2025, according to data compiled by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association), the 980 has the same Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6E-66XT turboprop engine, powering a five-blade Hartzell Propeller composite propeller, and controlled by a full authority digital engine control system.

The Starlink Mini satellite internet terminal enables internet connectivity and the use of a comprehensive suite of subscription-based digital services such as Garmin Pilot, ForeFlight apps, Jeppesen aviation databases, and SiriusXM weather.

Potential customers have a whole catalog of individual options. The TBM Essential Guide listing all the details is in the final stages; however, the pilot door, enabling the pilot to enter the flight deck without walking through the cabin, is standard in the new model.

While the primary final assembly of TBMs remains in Tarbes, France, a new assembly line is scheduled to open in 2027 in Stuart, Florida, to provide additional final assembly capacity, especially for the North American market. The TBM 980 will cost $5.820 million.

The TBM 980 was introduced at Daher Aircraft’s TBM production facility in Tarbes. The event was attended by customers, officials, and company employees and was presented to a worldwide audience via a livestreamed presentation. According to Chabbert the TBM 960 “gained certification by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), along with validation by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), enabling Daher to begin TBM 980 deliveries this month.

“Our TBM 980’s motto, ‘Fly Differently,’ is more than just a slogan, because this aircraft redefines the way that pilots—and their passengers—want to fly,” said Chabbert.