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 Icon A5

The Icon A5 is a modern recreational amphibious light sport aircraft offering unique water landing capability, exceptional fuel efficiency, and fun performance. Plan for $28,000–$38,000 annually in operating costs at 100 flight hours, or $280–$380 per hour. The Icon A5 dominates recreational water flying with unmatched affordability and amphibious versatility.

Quick Specs: Icon A5

Specification A5
Engine 1 × Rotax 912 iS (100 hp piston)
Fuel Burn 5–7 gal/hr cruise
Cruise Speed 60–75 mph
Service Ceiling 12,000 ft
Useful Load 550–700 lbs
Seats 2
Range 260–350 nm

TL;DR: Icon A5 Annual Operating Cost Summary

  • Fixed costs: $4,500–$7,000/year (insurance $1,500–$2,500, hangar $2,000–$3,000, annuals $1,000–$2,000)
  • Variable costs at 100 hours: $20,000–$28,000/year (Mogas fuel, oils, engine reserves)
  • Total at 100 hours: $28,000–$38,000/year (~$280–$380/hour)
  • Finance a $395,000 Icon A5: Add $6,700/month ($80,400/year) at 6.5% over 7 years
  • At 50 hours: ~$14,000–$22,000/year (~$280–$440/hour)
  • At 200 hours: ~$52,000–$70,000/year (~$260–$350/hour)

Light Sport Amphibious Operating Costs

Fixed Costs

  • Insurance: $1,500–$2,500/year for $250,000–$350,000 hull, light sport category
  • Hangar: $2,000–$3,000/year (light sport facility)
  • Annual inspection: $1,000–$2,000 labor (light sport)
  • Amphibious system maintenance: $500–$1,000/year

Variable Costs (per flight hour)

  • Mogas fuel: 6 gal/hr × $3.50/gal = ~$21/hour
  • Oil and lubricants: $1–$2/hour
  • Engine reserve: $4–$6/hour ($10K ÷ 2,000 TBO)
  • Amphibious system maintenance: $8–$12/hour
  • Airframe maintenance: $4–$8/hour
  • Landing fees: $0–$10/landing

Mogas Fuel & Operating Economics

Fuel Cost by Hours

Annual Hours Gallons Mogas Cost @ $3.50/gal $/Hour
50 300 $1,050 $21
100 600 $2,100 $21
150 900 $3,150 $21
200 1,200 $4,200 $21

Maintenance & Engine Reserves

Rotax 912 iS Engine

  • 912 iS: 2,000 hours TBO
  • Overhaul cost: $10,000–$14,000
  • Engine reserve: $12,000 ÷ 2,000 = $6/hour
  • Reliability: Proven light sport engine with excellent efficiency

Light Sport Maintenance

  • Amphibious gear inspection: $200–$400/year
  • Corrosion treatment: $300–$500/year
  • Float/hull inspection: $200–$400/year
  • Landing gear service: $100–$200/year
  • Budget: $15–$22/hour for all maintenance

Insurance & Storage

Light Sport Insurance

  • $250,000 hull, light sport: $1,500–$2,000/year
  • $350,000 hull, light sport: $2,000–$2,800/year
  • Water operations: No additional premium

Storage Costs

Option Monthly Annual
Light Sport Hangar $150–$250 $1,800–$3,000
Water Base Mooring $50–$150 $600–$1,800

Annual Ownership Scenarios

Operating Cost (Not Financed)

Hours/Year Fixed Variable Total $/Hour
50 $5,750 $6,500 $12,250 $245
100 $5,750 $13,000 $18,750 $187.50
200 $5,750 $26,000 $31,750 $158.75

Total Cost of Ownership (With Financing)

Assume $395,000 Icon A5, 6.5% APR, 7 years = $80,400/year debt service.

Hours/Year Operating Finance Total $/Hour
100 $18,750 $80,400 $99,150 $991.50
200 $31,750 $80,400 $112,150 $560.75

Financing the Icon A5

  • Purchase price: $350,000–$450,000
  • Down payment: 10–15%
  • Loan amount: $330,000–$395,000
  • Term: 7–10 years
  • APR: 6.0–7.5% (2025)
  • Monthly payment: $5,500–$7,200

Lender Requirements: 650+ credit, recreational pilot certificate, $50,000+ annual income, business plan, hull insurance $250K+. Lenders like JakenAviation support light sport aircraft financing for recreational operators.

Icon A5 vs. Competitors

  • vs. Cessna Caravan Amphibious: Icon A5 light/affordable; Caravan turboprop/capable
  • vs. Traditional seaplanes: Icon A5 lighter and cheaper; seaplanes larger and powerful

Get prequalified for light sport aircraft financing »

Sources: Icon 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 Icon A5 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 Icon A5, 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 Icon A5 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 Icon A5. 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