General Avia is renegotiating with the Italian Aero Club the delivery schedule for its remaining 13 F-22B/C light aircraft. Two aircraft have been handed over, but the rest of the deliveries have been delayed.
The setback, says General Avia, is primarily due to the Italian earthquake of 1998, which destroyed two manufacturing facilities at its Passignano base, resulting in a drain on finance and a reduction in annual production from a proposed 36 aircraft to six. General Avia has 43 orders and 50 options for its two-seat, piston single to date.
Meanwhile, the Italian Air Force is believed to have approached the Italian Aero Club with a view to selling a number of its ageing 39 Siai Marchetti S.208M piston singles earmarked for retirement.
The service, which has acquired the first of two Airbus A319CJs, is also selling its former 31st Wing VIP configured Douglas DC-9-32 which was badly damaged last year in a ground collision with a Russian VIP Ilyushin Il-96 jet.
Source: Flight International