EADS looks to Mallya for business jetliner JV

03 June 2008

Mumbai: European aerospace consortium EADS is in talks with Vijay Mallya, head of the spirits-to-airline UB Group, for a potential tie-up to revive its single piston engine aircraft manufacturing business.

EADS, which announced plans to relaunch its single-piston jetliner, is on the look-out for a partner for SOCATA, its business jetliner arm, to resume production at a much lower cost.

While a tie-up would offer cost advantage to the European firm, UB Group will gain entry into general aviation business.

"This is the very point that was approached in initial talks with Mallya in the course of current discussions between him and Airbus, Nicolas Chabbert,  vice president (sales and marketing) of SOCATA, said on the sidelines of the Berlin Air Show.

"There is no conclusions or any more development than this initial approach," Chabbert added.

Mallya, who founded Kingfisher Airlines in 2005 and acquired Deccan Aviation in 2007, had, at the annual meeting of the US National Business Aviation Association annul meeting in Atlanta last September, shown interest in acquiring a stake in US-based small aircraft maker EPIC Aircraft.