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Aviation History
1990
1990 - 1933.PDF
BUSINESS Italy and Soviets set up ATC deal Italy and the Soviet Union have signed an agreement to set up a joint venture to develop and build air traffic control (ATC) systems. Selenia will be the lead company in the Moscow-based venture. A high-level Soviet delegation visited Rome last week to sign the final agreements with the Italian Government and the chief executive officers of the state- owned companies IRI, Finmeccanica and Selenia. The new company, to be based in Moscow, will design and pro duce ATC systems for the Soviet Civil Aviation Ministry and for export. Some subsystems built in the Soviet Union will also be used in Selenia's products. The agreement specifies that the company will develop a modular ATC system able to meet international civil aviation specifications. With the Soviet Union starting a programme to install a new ATC network across the country the deal should give the Italian company an important foothold in the Eastern European market. Selenia ATC radars are already employed at Moscow and other Soviet airports. • Agusta boosts its civil marketing Italy's Agusta and Monacair, the Monte Carlo-based heli copter operator, have set up a joint venture to sell civil heli copters. The move is part of a major effort by the Italian com pany to lessen its exposure to defence business. Monacair-Agusta, in which the Italian company has a 40% hold ing, is forecasting 35 helicopter sales in the first three years of operation. "We've made provision for that amount in our production forecast," says Agusta president Roberto D'Allessandro. Agusta, he says, is anticipating the down turn in military sales and moving strongly into civil helicopters. "We're planning on increasing production of the A109 from 60 Bombardier leaves buyout scene BY JOHN BAILEY IN WICHITA Bombardier is unlikely to seek further acquisitions in the aerospace field in the near future, after completing its takeover of US business jet manufacturer Learjet. Learjet, which was bought for $75 million, joins a stable which includes its Shorts and Canadair acquisitions. Bombardier chairman Laurent Beaudoin says that he is "... quite satisfied with what we have achieved", and adds that Learjet will complete Bom bardier's aircraft group "for the time being". The Bombardier takeover was first announced three months ago (Flight, 18-24 April), and completed a fraught few months for Learjet following the bank ruptcy of its parent, Integrated Resources. Chairman Brian Barents says that "... drama is an understate ment" to describe the events leading up to the Bombardier deal—which included an abor tive takeover plan by Gulfstream chairman Allen Paulson. Learjet will continue to pro duce its existing range of four Befludoin—a statisfied chairman business jets—the light-jet models 31, 35A and 36A, and the medium-range model 55C, which will now complement the transcontinental Canadair Chal lenger 601. Beaudoin says: "With the pro grammes that we have in place, we are quite well positioned in niche markets. That is where our company has been successful in the past, and that's where we want to stay and develop our selves in the future." In addition to its aircraft companies, Bombardier is in volved in railways, buses, mili tary vehicles and snowmobiles. The first visible sign of the Bombardier link-up with Learjet will be the construction of an $8 million flight test centre in Wich ita, which will be used initially to certificate the new Challenger Regional Jet next year, and for all future Learjets, Shorts and Canadair programmes. Learjet will continue to op erate as an autonomous subsid iary, with the present management team in place. In addition to the $75 million paid for Learjet's physical assets, Bombardier will assume responsibility for Learjet's exist ing $38 million line of credit, and will extend it to fund future development. Beaudoin says that Learjet will receive "our full sup port" . in developing new products. He adds: "The immediate impact will be in marketing. Over the last six months, sales of Learjet products have been slow, because of the uncertainty in the market place". Learjet's Barents says that the takeover will ". . . allow us to execute a number of pro grammes we have been looking at for a number of years". • The Agusta 109 — at the forefront of the company's civil push per year to 100 in 1991, and 150 the following year," he says. The ratio of civil/military business will ". . . change completely", from the current 10:90 in favour of the military to 50:50, he says. D'Allessandro also says that Agusta intends to follow the Monacair deal with others like it. "We're negotiating with several other companies in Europe to take anything from a 10% to 50% stake," he reveals. # Monacair hopes to open a Monaco-Milan helicopter link soon, with a number of other destinations in the South of France, Italy and Switzerland. Monacair president Stefana Casiraghi also detailed plans to add two new helipads to the six already at Monaco airport. They will be located offshore, but able to be retracted hydraulically onto the breakwater to avoid storm damage. D Air India aims for top ten in profit league Air India, which made a profit /\of Rs700 million ($40 mil lion) in 1989-90 compared with a provisional estimate of Rs50 million, has targeted a net profit of Rsl.OOO million by 1992, says Rajan Jetley, Air India managing director at an Air India sales conference in Bombay. Jetley stresses that the profit achieved in 1989-90 should be used as a benchmark for further advances. He says that Air India aims to be one of the ten most profitable airlines in the world. Air India has recently made several strategic decisions. One is to form an alliance with a Euro pean airline. The existing co operation arrangement with TWA is working remarkably well, but Air India will also look for partners in Europe. • FUGHT INTERNATIONAL ll-17July 1990 15
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