$20 million contract for Zlin Z-242-L aircraft

Published: 6/17/1999

Mr Libor Soska, Chief Executive Officer of Moravan, the Otrokovice-based aircraft producer, has announced that the company is to sign a contract to supply over 100 Czech Zlin Z-242-L aircraft to Egypt, for some $20m. According to Mr Soska, this is the biggest contract in the firm"s history, representing a production run of eight aircraft a month. CTK Business News reported Mr Soska as saying that: “This week Moravan has won a tender of the Egyptian Ministry of Defence for the supply of aircraft for basic military training. In the final stage we left behind Swiss and German producers, thanks also to the offer of service and to the attitude towards the customer". He stressed that the order, together with other negotiated projects, is beneficial because it will mean more jobs to the people in the region, and more work for supplier companies, as 60% of the aircraft is sourced in the Czech Republic. Moravan, which currently has 460 employees, will require substantial numbers of new employees to meet the contract. The order for Egypt will double the turnover of the aircraft division against 1998 to some Kc400m this year. The division produced 14 aircraft in 1997. The Z 242 L aircraft is a two-seat fully acrobatic light trainer, designed to meet the requirements of both the military and civil training. Among the biggest operators of Z-242-L are a civil aviation-training base in Canada and air force training centres in Peru, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Macedonia, Algeria and Israel. The aircraft is also being considered as the replacement for the UK"s BAe Bulldog basic trainer.

Article ID: 602