ISRAEL AIRCRAFT Industries (IAI) is gearing up for "significantly" increased business-jet production in 1996, the first year in which both the basic Astra SP and high-speed Astra SPX will be produced.
A further "substantial" increase is projected for 1997, when production of the widebody Astra Galaxy begins.
Certification of the Mach 0.82 Astra SPX is scheduled for September. Deliveries begin in December, and production is sold out into the second half of 1996, says Roy Bergstrom, president of IAI's marketing arm, Astra Jet. Astra sales for 1995 are "well ahead" of those for 1994, when six SPs were delivered, and SP deliveries are sold out to the end of 1995, Bergstrom says.
Sales include the first Astra SPXs for Canada and Europe. The Canadian aircraft (the first Astra sold in Canada) will replace a Cessna Citation, while the German customer is a company which has not previously operated a business aircraft, says Astra Jet.
Astra Jet has begun taking firm orders for the Galaxy at a fixed price of slightly less than $13.9 million for a "green" aircraft. This compares with a fully equipped price of $10.5 million for the SPX and $9.7 million for the SP. The company holds "more than 20" position deposits on the Galaxy, Bergstrom says.
Certification and first deliveries of the Galaxy are scheduled for the second half of 1997. The aircraft has essentially the same IAI-developed wing as that of the SPX, and the same Rockwell-Collins Pro Line 4 avionics, mated to a Yakovlev-produced eight- to 19-passenger fuselage and powered by new AlliedSignal TFE731-40s.
Bergstrom says that IAI's search for a business partner for its civil-aircraft operations is linked to plans to develop a regional-airliner derivative of the Galaxy.
Source: Flight International