Comp Air developing 6-10 seater turbo; India key market
07 Oct 2008
Merritt Island based - Comp Air Inc.'s affiliate Comp Air Aviation LLC is reported to be ready to announce its plans for building a single-engine turboprop airplane, Comp Air 12, at the Melbourne International. The aircraft manufacturer is said to be in talks with Melbourne International Airport officials to lease almost 24,000 square feet of space starting in January.
Comp Air 12 is a six- to 10-seat plane that is still under development. It uses a single Honeywell turbine engine and a 5-blade McCauley propeller. Company executives say it could cost almost $150 million to get it certified, sometime by the third quarter of 2010.
The project is expected to create around 50 jobs during the initial phase, which is when the company will work to obtain the necessary accreditation from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to sell Comp Air 12.
The single engine turboprop has a ticket price of around $2.95 million, and the company expects it to sell on a widespread basis, says Bill Fedorko, Comp Air's chief operating officer. In a news release, he said that if everything goes according to plan, Comp Air would be making around 100 planes a year, and would end up creating around 2000 jobs by the year 2012.
In the statement, COO Fedorko also said that target markets for the airplane are the US, Russia, China and India, since ''there is incredible demand for luxury executive aircraft in those regions".
