STA, 11 April 2018 - The foundation stone has been laid for a new factory of ultra-light aircraft maker Pipistrel in Jurong, near Nanjing, China. The investment carried out with a Chinese partner, also featuring an airport and an apartment complex, is worth over a billion euro, while Pipistrel will invest EUR 350m.
The entire complex will stretch on a total of 135 hectares of land, of which 55 hectares are intended for apartment buildings, Ivo Boscarol, the co-owner and director of the Ajdovščina-based company has told the STA.
The seven-year project will be managed by Pipistrel Investment, a company established by the Chinese partner Kang Quai Group (which owns 80% of the company) and Pipistrel's Chinese subsidiary Pipistrel Asia Pacific, which holds a 20% stake.
Today's ceremony was attended by representatives of Pipistrel and Chinese local authorities, a government delegation headed by Infrastructure Minister Peter Gašperšič and a delegation of the Ajdovščina Municipality headed by Mayor Tadej Beočanin.
Pipistrel Investment is expected to produce more than 500 ultra-light aircraft a year in the new facility, with the Slovenian and Chinese partners observing a favourable trend in the development of environmentally-friendly air transport.
The plan is to build several production facilities for Pipistrel aircraft in China, including for ultra-light and hybrid aircraft of the Panthera line for the Chinese and eleven surrounding markets.
