Flight Design Registers First Two CTLS Aircraft in India World's Best-Selling LSA Begins Training in World's Largest Democracy

Nov. 18, 2009
Flight Design is now able to deliver the LSA aircraft to the opening Indian general aviation market. The CTLS aircraft will be used in flight training and will be sold by Carver Aviation.

Leinfelden-Echterdingen GERMANY / 18 November 2009 - Flight Design announced today that Carver Aviation - the biggest Flight School in India - has registered the first two of the world's best-selling Light-Sport Aircraft in India. Flight Design is now able to deliver the LSA aircraft to the opening Indian general aviation market. The CTLS aircraft will be used in flight training and will be sold by Carver Aviation.

"Flight Design is always seeking to move forward in its global position" noted Flight Design CEO, Matthias Betsch. "Up to now Light-Sport Aircraft are sold to customers on the basis of a manufacturer self declaration alone, without any kind of certification or audit. Flight Design prefers to provide more reassurance to customers. With its LAMA audit and its ISO 9001-2000 certification the German company makes sure that customers worldwide get a proven-quality product and have more to rely on than heavy advertising," added Betsch. "The LAMA audit and the ISO TÜV certificate underline the high level of quality and compliance of the CTLS aircraft. Thanks to the demonstrable quality of the product and to excellent operational experience proven through the delivery of more than 300 aircraft in the U.S. market alone, Flight Design was able to obtain these approvals in a very short time."

"The U.S. market for Light-Sport Aircraft is still hoping for an economic recovery as shown by an average of just 19 new registrations in each the last four months, down from more than twice that in 2007. This becomes obvious when looking into the details of the publicly available FAA registry of aircraft. Even though some companies still report continuous imports into the country, a significant number of those planes end up in the stock of the companies and not at new customers, therefore generating a false picture." said John Gilmore National Sales Manager at importer Flight Design USA. "Nevertheless, the market movement in the U.S. is encouraging in the last four weeks and is significantly above September/October 2008. Through investment in demonstrated quality, Flight Design's customer satisfaction report shows clear how the company is able to maintain its market leadership by offering an unbeatable package out of real performance, space, safety, comfort and service," Gilmore continued.

Flight Design has always decided to wisely invest its capacities into development of the aircraft, its customer service, and to opening new markets. For example, Flight Design is deeply involved in the ASTM committees and lead the market in obtaining EASA Permit to Fly privileges that allowed the sale of 600 kilogram Light-Sport Aircraft, the same parameters as used under U.S. regulations. The goal is to create a good base for the industry and the users of LSA airplanes. "Validated product quality, widely available unified customer support, and continuous product improvement to customer requests is Flight Design mission," stated Oliver Reinhardt, CTO of Flight Design.

Flight Design is a 23-year-old air-sport products producer based in Germany. The company remains the worldwide market leader thanks to its well-received CT series of light aircraft. More than 1,500 of these aircraft are flying in 39 countries. One of the first aircraft certified under ASTM International standards in 2005, the CT ("composite technology") remains the top-selling LSA in America through five consecutive years. A newer model, the MC (metal concept), has been well received in the markets.

For more information or to find the closest Flight Design dealer, go to: main manufacturer website www.flightdesign.com, or Flight Design USA website www.flightdesignusa.com.