Receives CAA Cert For 160A; Expanding Production

New Zealand's Alpha Aviation proudly proclaimed last week it has reached the final step of its development phase... which started in 2004 when the budding aircraft maker joined with Apex Aircraft. The company announced it has received the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) type certificate for its Alpha 160A aircraft.

"I’ve been with CAA for 20 years and in that time, only three new Type Certificates have been issued," said CAA R2000 Project Manager Peter Gill. "It’s an exciting milestone for Alpha Aviation and the New Zealand aviation industry."

Formerly known as the Robin R2160, the Alpha 160 A is an all-metal, 160-hp two-seater, built for the acrobatic category. The 160 Ai model is equipped with a fuel injected engine.

With type certification now in place, Alpha Aviation Managing Director Richard Sealy also took the opportunity to announce a major expansion of the Alpha Aviation facility at Hamilton International Airport.

"It gives me great pleasure to advise that our shareholders have approved a NZ$3 million expansion of the existing Alpha Aviation facility to enable us to scale up production to eight aircraft per month by May 2007," he said. "The existing facility was opened in July 2005 ... and despite being capable of assembling up to three to four aircraft each month, it simply won’t meet the growing consumer demand for our aircraft."

Sealy added that to date, the company has 21 confirmed orders.

"We always believed our biggest challenge would not be selling the aircraft, but producing them in sufficient numbers to meet international demand," he said. "It’s a nice position to be in, but does cause logistical headaches that can only be resolved by expansion."

Alpha expects its expanded facilities will be completed prior to the end of this year, and that production will reach eight aircraft per month by May 2007.

FMI: www.alphaaviation.co.nz