From the existing guide library. Pricing, loan examples and source dates may be historical. Use current written quotes for your purchase. The worksheets use the shared calculation method.

The True Operating Cost of Daher Kodiak 900

The Daher Kodiak 900 is a rugged single-engine turboprop offering 9-seat capacity, exceptional bush capability, and proven reliability. Plan for $118,000–$152,000 annually in operating costs at 100 flight hours, or $1,180–$1,520 per hour. The Kodiak 900 dominates utility markets.

Quick Specs: Daher Kodiak 900

Specification Kodiak 900
Engine 1 × Pratt & Whitney PT6A-34 (675 hp)
Fuel Burn 38–44 gal/hr cruise
Cruise Speed 130–160 mph
Service Ceiling 25,000 ft
Useful Load 3,200–3,600 lbs
Seats 9
Range 800–1,100 nm

TL;DR: Daher Kodiak 900 Annual Operating Cost Summary

  • Fixed costs: $32,000–$42,000/year (insurance $8,000–$12,000, hangar $14,000–$18,000, annuals $8,000–$10,000, training)
  • Variable costs at 100 hours: $86,000–$110,000/year (Jet-A fuel, oils, engine reserves)
  • Total at 100 hours: $118,000–$152,000/year (~$1,180–$1,520/hour)
  • Finance a $4,200,000 Kodiak 900: Add $61,000/month ($732,000/year) at 6.5% over 10 years
  • At 50 hours: ~$75,000–$96,000/year (~$1,500–$1,920/hour)
  • At 200 hours: ~$204,000–$262,000/year (~$1,020–$1,310/hour)

Utility Turboprop Operating Costs

Fixed Costs

  • Insurance: $8,000–$12,000/year for $1.5M–$2M hull
  • Hangar: $14,000–$18,000/year (utility facility)
  • Annual inspection: $8,000–$10,000 labor
  • Crew training: $2,000–$2,000/year

Variable Costs (per flight hour)

  • Jet-A fuel: 41 gal/hr × $5.50/gal = ~$225/hour
  • Oil and lubricants: $8–$12/hour
  • Engine reserves: $18–$24/hour ($75K ÷ 3,500 TBO)
  • Maintenance: $30–$50/hour
  • Landing fees: $20–$50/landing
  • Avionics: $15–$25/hour

Jet Fuel & Operating Economics

Fuel Cost by Hours

Annual Hours Gallons Jet-A Cost @ $5.50/gal $/Hour
50 2,050 $11,275 $225
100 4,100 $22,550 $225
150 6,150 $33,825 $225
200 8,200 $45,100 $225

Maintenance & Engine Reserves

Pratt & Whitney PT6A-34

  • PT6A-34: 3,500 hours TBO
  • Overhaul cost: $75,000–$95,000
  • Engine reserve: $85,000 ÷ 3,500 = $24.29/hour
  • Reliability: Proven turboprop with excellent support

Utility Turboprop Maintenance

  • Engine system checks: $4,000–$6,000/year
  • Airframe systems: $2,000–$3,000/year
  • Landing gear service: $1,500–$2,500/year
  • Avionics: $1,000–$2,000/year
  • Budget: $50–$80/hour for all maintenance

Insurance & Storage

Utility Insurance

  • $1,500,000 hull: $8,000–$10,000/year
  • $2,000,000 hull: $11,000–$14,000/year
  • Bush operations: +15–25% premium

Storage Costs

Option Monthly Annual
Utility Hangar $1,200–$1,500 $14,400–$18,000
Tie-Down $300–$500 $3,600–$6,000

Annual Ownership Scenarios

Operating Cost (Not Financed)

Hours/Year Fixed Variable Total $/Hour
50 $37,000 $32,000 $69,000 $1,380
100 $37,000 $64,000 $101,000 $1,010
200 $37,000 $128,000 $165,000 $825

Total Cost of Ownership (With Financing)

Assume $4,200,000 Daher Kodiak 900, 6.5% APR, 10 years = $732,000/year.

Hours/Year Operating Finance Total $/Hour
100 $101,000 $732,000 $833,000 $8,330
200 $165,000 $732,000 $897,000 $4,485

Financing the Daher Kodiak 900

  • Purchase price: $3,800,000–$5,000,000
  • Down payment: 15–20%
  • Loan amount: $3,200,000–$4,250,000
  • Term: 10–15 years
  • APR: 5.75–7.0% (2025)
  • Monthly payment: $55,000–$115,000

Lender Requirements: 650+ credit, aviation experience, $500,000+ net worth, detailed flight plan, hull insurance $1.5M+. Lenders like JakenAviation support utility aircraft financing.

Daher Kodiak 900 vs. Competitors

  • vs. Cessna Grand Caravan: Kodiak 900 twin redundancy; Caravan single-engine standard
  • vs. Quest Kodiak 100: Kodiak 900 more power; 100 lighter

Get prequalified for utility aircraft financing »

Sources: Daher Aircraft Specs | AOPA Owner Reports | FAA TCDS

Operating-cost worksheet

Defaults are round assumptions, not a shop quote. AOPA’s worksheet splits fixed costs (insurance, hangar, the annual), direct costs (fuel and maintenance), and a reserve (overhaul cost divided by hours to TBO). Their old teaching example used half the hourly fuel bill as a maintenance starting point. Type your own gph and prices.

Stop dividing one year’s costs by too few hours

The expensive mistake on a Daher Kodiak is to take insurance, hangar, and an annual, divide by 80 or 100 hours, and call the result the cost of flying. Those bills arrive if you fly or not. AOPA’s operating-cost worksheet treats them as fixed costs, then adds direct costs that do move with hours: fuel, oil, and maintenance. A reserve for the engine or propeller is a third bucket, optional in their sheet and not optional in real life if you intend to keep the aircraft through an overhaul. The worksheet on this page follows that split. Any annual dollar range printed higher up on this page, if it does not cite an invoice or AOPA, is an illustration. Do not repeat it as a quote.

Fuel is a multiplication, not a rumor

AOPA’s instruction is price per gallon times gallons per hour. The gallons per hour belong to the way you actually fly the Daher Kodiak, not to the brochure cruise at the most flattering altitude. Oil is the same idea: price per quart times quarts per hour. Type both into the worksheet. If you do not know burn, leave a conservative guess and replace it after five tanks of your own notes. A blog’s “cost per hour” that hides the burn and the fuel price is not usable, because you cannot tell which assumption broke.

The maintenance starting point AOPA actually published

For a first pass, AOPA equates routine engine and airframe maintenance, on an hourly basis, to about half the hourly fuel and oil bill, and says to adjust it once you have your own invoices. The checkbox on the worksheet does that and nothing fancier. Turn it off and type a maintenance figure when you have one. A separate AOPA line for avionics is 5 percent of the avionics’ replacement value per 500 hours. That is a starting point from their sheet, not a prediction that your Daher Kodiak panel will fail on schedule. Unsupported radios cost more than that formula, because the fix is often a replacement, not a repair.

The overhaul reserve is a division

AOPA’s method is the shop’s overhaul or remanufacture price divided by hours left until the published TBO, not divided by the full TBO if the engine is already mid-time. Their sheet walks through a Cessna 172 example: $17,000 over 2,000 hours is $8.50 an hour, while a $27,000 reman with 900 hours left is $30 an hour. Those dollars are the example in the article, and they are not a 2026 quote for a Daher Kodiak. The arithmetic is what you copy. Propeller overhaul, in the same AOPA sheet, is penciled at about $0.25 an hour for a fixed-pitch prop and about $1 an hour for a constant-speed prop, with more for a three-blade. Treat those as historical placeholders and ask a prop shop.

Sources