Eclipse Aviation gains long term financing for Eclipse 500 VLJ
On Monday Eclipse Aviation announced a partnership with European Technology and Investment Research Center (ETIRC) that marks a significant point in aviation history. Eclipse Aviation has been struggling lately with lower than predicted production rates of its Eclipse 500 Very Light Jet but with the equity investment by ETIRC of “substantially in excess of $100 million” new life is breathed into the startup aircraft manufacturer.
Roel Pieper, ETIRC CEO, said that Eclipse is “way ahead of the other players … and the market needs a clear winner.” ETIRC thinks that the Eclipse is the “right product… for air taxi especially.” “Eclipse will go into history as the standard for VLJs by a mile.” He explained that the market is far more than they had imagined and they see an exploding need for business travel.
Vern Raburn, CEO of Eclipse Aviation stressed that this is not an outsourcing move but an acceleration of production. He said that Eclipse Aviation has hired back almost all of the workers that were laid off last October. They now employ 1600 workers and plan to add another 700 workers to their Albuquerque New Mexico facility this year. Vern mentioned that plans for production at the Double Eagle airport have not been changed and that production at that facility should begin in two or three years.
Vern explained that this partnership is a way for Eclipse to solve two fundamental problems: Funding, and a way to service other parts of the world. Vern said that ETIRC is now the largest equity investor in Eclipse Aviation but is still a minority investor. There are no plans to merge the companies and the intent is to stay independent.
Vern explained that all aircraft parts will be produced in Albuquerque and shipped to Russia for assembly by ETIRC and that the finished products will be virtually identical to aircraft produced in the US. The city of Ulyanovsk is currently the leading candidate for the assembly plant with production expected to begin late in 2009.
There are 2,650 Eclipse jets on order now with an expected delivery date of early 2010 for new orders. Vern says he expects the order book to grow. He couldn’t predict when the Eclipse would gain its flight into known icing certification but said that he expects it in the first half of 2008.
This significant announcement is great news for those who wish to get involved in the next generation of air travel. It means that there will probably be many more Eclipse 500s that will need pilots and that the traveling public will benefit by their availability. New travel options will begin to emerge in 2008 and the price of aircraft charter will drop as more of these aircraft are produced.
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