The Egyptian civil aviation ministry has signed a contract to purchase eight gliders from Polish manufacturer PZL-Swidnik for delivery in October.
The deal is expected to be followed by a second order with-in the next two years for up to 40 additional aircraft, which would be assembled under licence in Egypt, according to Swidnik.
The initial sale covers four single-seat PW-5 Smyks and a similar number of the recently-developed PW-6 two-seat version, for which Egypt will be the launch customer. The aircraft will be used to train pilots at Egyptian air clubs.
The PW-5 is constructed from glassfibre and has a wingspan of 13.5m (44ft), maximum operating weight of 300kg (660lb) and maximum speed of 119kt (220km/h). Around 300 have been sold since the type went into production in 1995. The larger PW-6 has a wingspan of 16m and maximum weight of 520kg.
Swidnik says the first batch of eight aircraft will be assembled in Poland, but adds that Egypt is discussing production of another 40 under licence, evenly split between the PW-5 and PW-6.
"They want to assemble our gliders in Egypt," says Swidnik. "It has not been finalised yet - we have just started talking about this," adds the Polish manufacturer.
The additional aircraft would be supplied as kits, though "perhaps they will also be able to manufacture some parts in the future," says the Polish concern.
Swidnik says that it is negotiating further sales of the gliders with "a few potential customers", but the manufacturer declines to reveal their identities until the contracts have been signed.
Source: Flight International
