São Paulo – Last week, a helicopter assembly and maintenance line was inaugurated in Libya. The factory was established by the Libyan Italian Advanced Technology Company (Liatec), a joint venture between Libyans and Italians, at Abou Aisha airport, in the city of Tarhouna, in the southeast of Tripoli, according to African news agency Panapress.
Liatec has capital of 10 million euros and was born from a partnership between the Libyan Company for Aviation Industry, Finmeccanica, an Italian holding in the aircraft sector, and Agusta Westland, a subsidiary of Finmeccanica, which operates helicopters. The Libyan company has 50% of the joint venture, Finemeccanica, 25%, and AgustaWestland the remaining 25%.
The factory covers an area of 1,000 square metres and construction took 18 months. It is going to operate in the maintenance and assembly of helicopters, the area of avionics (aviation electronics), modernisation of equipment and professional training.
The production capacity in the new factory is for four helicopters a year in the first twelve months in operation. In the second year, it should make a helicopter every two months. The helicopters will be single- and twin-engine aircraft and should be turned to the African market, according to the chairman of the board at Agusta Westland, Amedeo Caporaletti.
Inauguration of the factory was in the hands of the secretary of the Libyan Authority for Property and Investment Transfer, Jemal Lemouchi, and the deputy minister of Economic Development of Italy, Adolfo Urso. The ceremony also included the deputy director at Finmeccanica, Pier Fransesco Guarguaglini, the secretary at the Libyan Air Industry Company, Ali Al-Attrab, and Caporaletti, from AgustaWestland.
Liatec has a centre for aircraft maintenance and labour training in Tajura. Agusta Westland has already sold over twenty helicopters to the government of Libya, for operation in frontier patrol and medical emergency aid.
*Translated by Mark Ament
