New York / Paris / Mumbai, June 27, 2017 – Australia’s first 10 seat Single Engine Turbine aircraft, the AIRVAN 10, has been awarded its FAR 23 Type Certificate from the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority. The Airvan 10 also received the US Type Certificate issued by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Mr. S P Shukla, Chairman, Mahindra Aerospace, and Group President-Aerospace & Defence, Mahindra Group, expressed his pleasure at this achievement. “This (certification) comes as a cornerstone for civil aviation. This certification under stringent safety standards in place today aligns with Mahindra Group’s focus on introducing world class products in fast changing general aviation world which will be dominated significantly by turboprops in this class of aircraft. Today’s certifications enhance our global reach further, with specific focus on large markets for regional connectivity such as India, and Africa.”
“We feel proud in achieving this milestone of dual certification for our Airvan 10. This not only allows us to expand our existing markets, but also provides a much needed boost to regional low-cost connectivity to those areas in the world where AvGas is a constraint. Our focus on engineering and world-class execution is the key to this milestone,” said Mr. Arvind Mehra, Executive Director & CEO of Mahindra Aerospace.
Mr. Keith Douglas, CEO of GippsAero, said, “For our Australia and India teams, this is a much deserved recognition. This now gives us an opportunity to progress into the next stage of the program which will address customer and region-specific enhancements to the aircraft. We expect delivery of the first aircraft to identified customers by the early 2018. There has been a significant demand for such an aircraft in expanding general aviation turboprop market and we are confident we will fill the gap by providing this cost effective solution.”
GippsAero will follow its time proven process of intensive consultation and operational trials with lead customers, and representatives from its world-wide distribution network to refine the basic utility aircraft progressively for the many roles it will meet in service.
The Rolls-Royce M250 powered AIRVAN 10 follows in the footsteps of the piston engine eight seat AIRVAN 8, and the turbo-charged version of this aircraft, which are now operating in 29 countries and have achieved high service times with excellent reliability and low maintenance costs. The AIRVAN family of aircrafts have been targeted at niche markets where there are few direct competitors and the efficiency and economy of these aircrafts have established them as the exemplar in several continents, under widely varying conditions and operational requirements.
About Mahindra Aerospace (www.mahindraaerospace.com)
Mahindra Aerospace leads the Mahindra Group’s interests in aerospace manufacturing. In aerostructures, Mahindra Aerospace operates a large plant in India with comprehensive capabilities for sheet metal parts, surface treatment and assemblies - soft alloys at present, soon to include hard alloy components capability. With numerous OEM / customer approvals, the business has ramped up steeply on production since January 2015, and is exporting parts and assemblies to customers worldwide. Mahindra’s aircraft business in Australia produces the Airvan 8, the most capable, rugged and versatile utility aircraft in its class. Certified in over 42 countries, over 220 Airvan 8s are in service.
About Mahindra
The Mahindra Group is a USD 19 billion federation of companies that has a leadership position in utility vehicles, information technology, financial services and vacation ownership in India and is the world’s largest tractor company, by volume. It also enjoys a strong presence in agribusiness, components, commercial vehicles, consulting services, energy, industrial equipment, logistics, real estate, steel, aerospace, defense and two wheelers. Headquartered in India, Mahindra employs over 200,000 people across 100 countries.
Learn more about Mahindra on www.mahindra.com / Twitter and Facebook: @MahindraRise
