Mubadala aircraft 'made in the UAE'
Piaggio has a backlog of more than $626m for the P180 Avanti.
Mubadala Development, the strategic investment arm of the Abu Dhabi Government, is planning to use its stake in an Italian aircraft maker to build a new business aircraft in the emirate.
The plan, for the second half of next decade, would mark one of the most ambitious entries into aircraft manufacturing in 50 years – since the Brazilian government launched Embraer – and make the Emirates the first Arab country to design and build an aircraft from scratch.
It would also mark an evolution for Mubadala, from investing in aerospace firms, to producing specialised aircraft parts, to becoming a full manufacturer.
“We have ambitions to become an original equipment manufacturer with a target of 2016 to 2018,” said Homaid al Shemmari, the associate director of Mubadala’s aerospace business that represents about 10 per cent of the company’s asset base.
Mubadala wants to use its 31.5 per cent stake in Piaggio Aero Industries, based in the northern Italian coastal city of Genoa, to acquire the required knowledge and capabilities, Mr al Shemmari added.
Piaggio has been planning a new aircraft for several years, which may be a jet version of its Avanti II turboprop, in a project that could cost a reported $1bn.
But the new aircraft would most probably be made in Genoa, according to recent statements by the Piaggio chief executive, Alberto Galassi
