Diamond, Columbia Offer Buyer Incentives

If you need an extra enticement to go ahead and buy yourself a shiny new airplane before the year’s out, some of the GA manufacturers are ready to give you that excuse. Diamond Aircraft is offering free fuel and free maintenance for up to two years on new and demonstrator DA40 Diamond Stars bought before Dec. 31. New and current DA40 owners also can now indulge in the newly certified Garmin GDL-69A, which receives XM satellite signals with near-real-time weather information plus over 130 radio channels. Or if it’s a Columbia 350 that you long for, you can now buy one for $20,000 less. “As we continue to increase the production rate, efficiencies specific to the Columbia 350 have enabled us to reduce our costs, so we’re passing the savings on to our customers,” said Columbia spokesman Randy Bolinger. Base price for a new Columbia 350 will now be $378,900, some $20,100 less than before.