Flight Design’s CTLS best-selling light sport aircraft makes its comeback as a production aircraft at this weekend’s inaugural Deland Sport Aviation Village & Showcase in Florida, USA.
The assets and production rights for the CT series of microlights and sports aircraft have been acquired by Taiwanese company AeroJones which intends to put the aircraft back into production.
This follows the original German Flight Design company going into administration earlier this year.
And the good news for European CT owners and dealers is that AeroJones intends to supply Europe as well as as the USA and China, confirmed to FLYER by Jessie Lin of AeroJones.
AeroJones is well-positioned to take on the task. It had already worked out an agreement with Flight Design to manufacture the CTLS.
Engineers from the German company assisted and oversaw efforts to establish AeroJones in as a manufacturer, completed earlier this year. AeroJones has produced full aircraft and is presently preparing to expand manufacturing.
AeroJones is establishing a subsidiary in Florida, USA to act as a centralised assembly and distribution facility.
Chris Benaiges, CEO of AeroJones Americas, said, “This facility will ensure the strictest safety standards and quality control. AeroJones Americas looks forward to working with and renewing all dealer contracts and leading the way with new and innovative technology in the CTLS aircraft.”
The acquisition by AeroJones also includes the four-seat C4 that Flight Design first flew in 2015. It intends to complete development of the aircraft, go through certification and then manufacture it for sale as a complete aircraft.
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The above good news was posted after this shocker a few months back: Flight Design, the German aircraft company that makes the popular CT series of microlights and light sport aircraft, has gone into temporary receivership. Flight Design’s CTLS, pictured above, is the world’s best-selling light sport aircraft.
According to Flight Design’s management, the insolvency application became necessary after an international customer did not settle a bill of “over seven digit Euros”.
This led the company into a liquidity squeeze. The management has sought alternative financing to bridge the time until receipt of outstanding payments but this has not been successful.
The interim receiver appointed by the court in Cottbus, Germany is Knut Rebholz of Mönning & Partner. Rebholz said, “The order situation of the company is good and the products have a very good international reputation in the market.”
In the coming weeks Rebholz sees as one of the most urgent tasks is to enable intensive negotiations to fund operations. “Only then is it possible to complete the remaining work and to hand over the remaining aircraft to the waiting customers.”
Figures released by the receiver show Flight Design recently had an annual turnover of about 11 million euros. In Germany, it has almost 20 employees, mostly highly skilled engineers and technicians, and about 100 workers in Ukraine. Since the company was founded in 1988, the company has delivered about 1,500 aircraft.
Earlier this month, Flight Design announced additional production facilities were being developed in Taiwan to help ease a production bottleneck created when Russian military forces invaded the Ukraine, close to where Flight Design has its factory. The company is also developing a four-seat aircraft, the C4.
SOURCE: https://www.flyer.co.uk/aerojones-to-put-flight-design-ctls-into-production/
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