The new owners of Reims Aviation are focusing on the special mission version of the F406 twin turboprop as demand from maritime surveillance operators grows. Chief executive Bernard Grouchko, whose investment group Green Recovery took over F406 production, marketing and maintenance in February, says the political and economic situation is not affecting development of SAS Reims Aviation Industries. "The context hasn't changed that much in the past two months, so we knew what to expect and have organised ourselves accordingly," he says.
Grouchko claims the F406 has a niche market for maritime surveillance, due largely to it being unpressurised, which is "an obvious handicap in the commercial field where we are limited to island-hopping or low-lying, sparsely populated areas".
French customs will get the latest version of the F406 Polmar III in the first quarter of 2004, a project that the previous owners had had to put on hold for over a year.
Reims is shortly to deliver a short landing-capable F406 Mark I to Air Saint Pierre, which serves the French territory of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, and has revived development plans for the F406 Mark II.
Source: Flight International
