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Aviation History
2004
2004-09 - 1905.PDF
BUSINESS AVIATION PARTNERSHIP BRENDAN SOBIE / SINGAPORE AIDC to pull out of Ae270 venture Taiwanese manufacturer set to leave sinqle-engined turboprop in the hands of Czech partner Aero Vodochody Taiwan is seeking to pull out of its joint venture with the Czech Republic to develop the Ae270 as certification of the new single- engine turboprop slips into 2005. Aerospace Industrial Develop ment Corporation (AIDC) chair man Tao-Yu Sun says the Taiwanese government-owned company has decided against fur ther investment in the project and is negotiating to transfer wing pro duction to joint venture partner Aero Vodochody. AIDC stopped producing Ae270 wings two months ago after deliv ering an initial batch of 10. AIDC is asking Aero Vodochody to assume responsibility for the entire project, including remaining development costs and all future production, but break-up negotiations have not yet been concluded. Ibis Aerospace, the joint ven ture's US-based marketing arm, has already sold over 80 Ae270s, most in executive configuration. But cer tification, earlier delayed from December 2003 to the second half of 2004, is now not expected until January 2005. "Even if they can get FAA approval next year, which we doubt very much, for this kind of airplane, the market potential is very low," says Sun. "Aero Vodochody wants us to extend our investment, but we decided not to. It was a tough deci sion because we've invested a lot already. But from a long-term point of view we want to pull out." He adds AIDC has contributed $32 million to the programme and is hoping to recover a small portion of this investment as part of ongo ing negotiations with the Czech PRODUCTION Republic. AIDC is offering to help Aero Vodochody develop composite capabilities that are required to pro duce the Ae270 wing. Ibis's Czech Republic-based area sales executive, Karel Sovalk, con firms AIDC is seeking to pull out of the project, but declines to com ment, saying there is "no conclu sion yet from this situation". Aero Vodochody was unavailable for comment, but a source close to the programme says the company is evaluating whether to increase its investment or court alternative partners. Sovalk says European and US cer tification has been pushed back until "the beginning" of next year because of unfavourable weather conditions for flight testing earlier this year. But he says the delay is not critical and limited deliveries of the aircraft are still planned for 2005. Bombardier forced to search for new empennage supplier Bombardier must find a new source for empennages for the Challenger 300 because the existing sole supplier is unable to meet future delivery requirements. Taiwan's Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) has informed Bombardier it is unable to produce 60 empennages next year as required. AIDC is already behind in meeting a requirement for 47 empennages this year and three will have to slip into next year. Chairman Tao-Yu Sun says AIDC lacks the resources to further increase production and had trouble mar shalling the resources required to increase output from 32 empennages last year. As a result, AIDC is seeking to negotiate new terms midway through the contract that would allow it to decrease production and get a higher return from each part. If this cannot be achieved, AIDC prefers to drop the unprofitable contract altogether and hand the new sup plier responsibility for the entire requirement. , "For some contracts like this one, we can't win," Sun says. Bombardier declines to comment about the negoti ations and what if any impact they will have on Challenger 300 deliveries. AIDC also supplies empennages for the smaller Learjet 45, but Sun says AIDC is able to meet this contact and generate a profit. AIDC is committed to producing 82 Learjet 45 empennages in 2004,46 of which have already been delivered. Temier fastest single-pilot business jet in the world... Z2 5-11 OCTOBER 2004 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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