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IAI seeks to make planes in Asia
IAI, Israel's largest defence contractor, is seeking a partner in the Asia-Pacific region to build planes for domestic and budget airlines as demand for intra-regional travel is set to soar, its chairman said on Wednesday.
The state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), whose expertise ranges from commercial planes to drones, has developed business models with two partners in Asia to build aircraft with between 40 and 90 seats, IAI chairman Yair Shamir told Reuters.
He, however, refused to name the companies or say which countries they were from.
"We are looking for a partner to develop and produce regional airplanes here," Shamir said in an interview on the sidelines of the Singapore Airshow.
"Our idea is to come up with a unique business model, more dramatic than the others."
IAI is the latest plane maker to be drawn into the competition for smaller planes aimed at the Asia-Pacific, which is set to overtake the United States and Europe as the world's biggest air transport market within the next two decades.
At the Singapore Airshow, Brazil's Embraer, the world's third largest commercial aircraft maker after Airbus and Boeing, said this week it plans to introduce new models in 12-18 months, including its biggest-ever jet.
Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp, a unit of Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd, also said its new MRJ jet, Japan's first domestically developed passenger aircraft, should capture 30 percent of the short-haul market in 10 years.
Shamir said it would take about five years for the first made-in-Asia IAI plane to fly and the new venture may have an initial production of 24 aircraft a year.
"The potential here is huge. As Asia-Pacific prospers, regional plane travel will grow faster than other places."
Mitsubishi Aircraft estimates demand for less than 100-seat intra-region jets of up to 5,000 over the next two decades.
Sales in the Asia-Pacific region account for about 40 percent of IAI's overall revenues, Shamir said.
Shamir also said IAI has been looking for the past 18 months to acquire a firm in Europe to sell its unmanned aerial vehicles, but nothing has materialised.
"We are looking for a company that will be fully owned by us, or we are are a major shareholder, that will enable us to do UAV and other stuff," Shamir said.
"This should be a platform to enter the European market as a European firm," he said, without giving further details.
AIRSHOW - Israel's IAI seeks to make planes in Asia | Business News | Reuters
IAI, Israel's largest defence contractor, is seeking a partner in the Asia-Pacific region to build planes for domestic and budget airlines as demand for intra-regional travel is set to soar, its chairman said on Wednesday.
The state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), whose expertise ranges from commercial planes to drones, has developed business models with two partners in Asia to build aircraft with between 40 and 90 seats, IAI chairman Yair Shamir told Reuters.
He, however, refused to name the companies or say which countries they were from.
"We are looking for a partner to develop and produce regional airplanes here," Shamir said in an interview on the sidelines of the Singapore Airshow.
"Our idea is to come up with a unique business model, more dramatic than the others."
IAI is the latest plane maker to be drawn into the competition for smaller planes aimed at the Asia-Pacific, which is set to overtake the United States and Europe as the world's biggest air transport market within the next two decades.
At the Singapore Airshow, Brazil's Embraer, the world's third largest commercial aircraft maker after Airbus and Boeing, said this week it plans to introduce new models in 12-18 months, including its biggest-ever jet.
Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp, a unit of Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd, also said its new MRJ jet, Japan's first domestically developed passenger aircraft, should capture 30 percent of the short-haul market in 10 years.
Shamir said it would take about five years for the first made-in-Asia IAI plane to fly and the new venture may have an initial production of 24 aircraft a year.
"The potential here is huge. As Asia-Pacific prospers, regional plane travel will grow faster than other places."
Mitsubishi Aircraft estimates demand for less than 100-seat intra-region jets of up to 5,000 over the next two decades.
Sales in the Asia-Pacific region account for about 40 percent of IAI's overall revenues, Shamir said.
Shamir also said IAI has been looking for the past 18 months to acquire a firm in Europe to sell its unmanned aerial vehicles, but nothing has materialised.
"We are looking for a company that will be fully owned by us, or we are are a major shareholder, that will enable us to do UAV and other stuff," Shamir said.
"This should be a platform to enter the European market as a European firm," he said, without giving further details.
AIRSHOW - Israel's IAI seeks to make planes in Asia | Business News | Reuters
