Israel Aircraft Industries' (IAI) Airtruck specialised cargo aircraft has been selected in principle by FedEx to meet its requirement for a Fokker F27 replace- ment. The Israeli company is struggling to meet FedEx's price demands, however, and is seeking additional customers, partners and investors to enable the programme to be launched.
The Airtruck has been designed to meet FedEx's requirement for up to 100 freighters. The high-wing twin turboprop will be capable of carrying five standard size cargo containers over a range of some 1,900km (1,000nm) at a speed of around 300kt (550km/h). FedEx is willing to guarantee the purchase of 100 aircraft on condition that the unit price is no greater than $10 million.
A source close to the programme says that, with a planned production run of only 100 aircraft, the unit price will exceed the FedEx limit. Having failed to convince the express carrier to pay slightly more for the aircraft, IAI is now looking for additional customers, to enable it to at least double the production run to 200 Airtrucks.
Meanwhile, IAI's search for risk sharing subcontractors for the programme has involved negotiations with organisations in Europe and Asia. The potential subcontractors have been offered manufacture of major sections of the aircraft, with Hyundai of South Korea, for example, having been in discussions about producing the wing.
IAI has also recently contacted potential financial investors to secure backing for the Airtruck, along similar lines to that for the IAI Galaxy business aircraft programme, in which the US-based Pritzker family has invested.
"We need an investor, we need another customer and we need risk sharing subcontractors to make the Airtruck a reality," says a programme source.
IAI officially declines to comment on any negotiations. Ayres, the other major contender for the FedEx requirement, confirms that it has ceased work on the project. The US aircraft builder is already developing a smaller cargo aircraft, the Loadmaster, for FedEx.
Source: Flight International
