24 November 2020
Australian aircraft manufacturer GippsAero has stopped producing new aircraft and been put up for the sale by Mahindra, the Indian company which bought it in 2009.
GippsAero produced the 8-seat piston-powered GA8 Airvan, a popular aircraft for skydiving, tourist flights and humanitarian operations. Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) flies Airvans into several difficult to reach airstrips in Indonesia.
GippsAero and Mahindra have also developed the GA10, a bigger and turboprop powered version of the GA8, with a safari park in Botswana set to be the first customer. It’s unclear whether aircraft manufacturing will return.
Mahindra revealed the closure in an earnings statement last week, as part of a plan to ensure an 18% return on all its businesses. It’s reported that Mahindra has invested $100m in GippsAero over the past ten years with little financial return. Mahindra is also selling other loss-making businesses including Ssangyong Motors.
