Taiwan's Aerospace Industrial Development (AIDC) and Aero Vodochody of the Czech Republic have signed a $60 million joint-venture agreement to co-produce a ten-seat turboprop aircraft, the AE-270.
Each will take a 50% stake. AIDC president Wang Shih-sen and Aero Vodochody chief executive Adam Stranak signed the agreement on 15 March.
The AE-270 will be powered by a Pratt Whitney PT6 turboprop. AIDC, hopes to produce and sell 850 AE-270s in the next 15 years, initially at $1.3 million each.
The two parties will not decide on specific manufacturing details until they establish a joint-venture company formally, says AIDC.
It has been decided, however, that the Taiwanese will assemble the aircraft and market it in Asia, while Aero Vodochody will undertake marketing elsewhere. The joint venture represents AIDC's first commercial undertaking, but the aircraft faces an uphill struggle to gain Western certification, says a Taiwan-based source, whose company works closely with AIDC.
Stranak discounts analysts' fears that the aircraft will have difficulty gaining US certification, saying that a version of its Let L-410 light transport already has US approval. He says that the first prototype should be flying by 1999, with initial deliveries the following year.
The design has changed little since it was announced by Aero in 1990, says Stranak. The AE-270 will have a 3,100kg maximum take-off weight and an expected top speed of 230kt (420km/h).
The Czechs allowed Taiwan premier Lien Chan to visit in 1995. Ever since, Taiwan is believed to have sought to return the favour via investment or joint venture.
Source: Flight International
