There is no honest universal answer to “What does an ICON A5 cost per year?” Ownership depends on the aircraft, pilot, location, hours flown, storage, insurance, support access, and operating environment. A useful budget separates fixed, hourly, planned, and surprise costs.
Fixed annual costs
Start with insurance, hangar or approved storage, registration and entity costs, subscriptions, recurrent training, annual or condition inspection, and any financing expense. Request insurance indications before committing to a purchase; pilot experience, training, geography, and coverage choices can materially change availability and premium.
Hourly and usage-driven costs
Fuel is only one part. Include oil and consumables, engine and propeller reserves, cleaning and corrosion prevention, scheduled tasks, wear items, water-operation care, and travel to qualified service. An online hourly estimate that excludes reserves can make an aircraft look artificially inexpensive.
Acquisition and first-year costs
Budget for prebuy inspection, title and escrow, taxes, travel, ferry or delivery, immediate discrepancies, transition training, storage setup, equipment replacement, and records review. The first year often differs from a steady-state annual budget.
Build three scenarios
- Expected: your likely utilization and quoted local costs.
- Low-use: fewer hours but nearly unchanged fixed costs.
- Adverse: a meaningful maintenance event, higher insurance, or travel to service.
Questions to obtain real numbers
- Can an insurer provide an indication for this pilot and aircraft?
- Where will the A5 be stored, launched, cleaned, and serviced?
- Which time- or calendar-limited items are approaching?
- What equipment, trailer, or parachute-related work may be due?
- What maintenance findings appear in the logs and prebuy?