KATE SARSFIELD /LONDON
Apex Aircraft, manufacturer of the Robin, Alpha, Cap and Bul Aero ranges of light general aviation aircraft, has entered voluntary receivership as the downturn in orders and hefty aircraft development costs have hit the French company hard.
Dijon-based Apex Aircraft, established last year following the merger of Robin Aircraft and Cap Aviation, will operate on a reduced scale while its finances are restructured.
John Kistner, owner of Apex Aircraft's UK distributor Mistral Aviation, says the economic slowdown in Europe, coupled with the 11 September fallout, has led to a severe drop in orders across its range of aircraft. These include the wood-construction Robin DR400/500, the Alpha 120/160 two-seat metal trainers and the CAP 232 single-seat aerobatic aircraft. The recently certificated CAP 10C, however, has been unaffected so far by the order downturn, as the aircraft was late reaching production and still has a large order backlog.
Alpha Aircraft's current position is partly blamed on its pursuit of costly and lengthy new aircraft development programmes. The long-awaited Bul Aero ultralight has yet to receive certification while the two-seat carbon fibre composite CAP 222 project has been delayed by around two years following the crash of its prototype.
One French observer says: "Alpha has taken its eye off the ball and lost sight of its core business - building and delivering aircraft."
Source: Flight International
