The 200th GippsAero GA8 Airvan rolled off the Latrobe Valley production line last Friday and was presented in a ceremony to sales agent Hawker Pacific.
Commenting on the milestone, GippsAero CEO Terry Miles said "The Airvan has found favour with customers in 34 countries across the globe and we hope to continue to build on this momentum and expand our customer base."
Hawker Pacific's Senior Vice President, Aircraft Sales & Flight Services Group, Tony Jones echoed the sentiments of his GippsAero counterpart.
"The GA8 is the highest-production, Australian-designed and manufactured aircraft in history," he said. "We are proud to be associated with this significant milestone and congratulate Mahindra on their remarkable success.
"Given the growing demand and positive reception this aircraft continues to receive in the current market, it is the right time to bring this aircraft to the region, and is an extremely welcome addition to our demonstration fleet to help drive the GippsAero range to even greater heights."
The handover was done at Latrobe Regional Airport in a company-wide ceremony that also included local dignitaries. The landmark aircraft will now be ferried to Asia where it will begin a six-month program of demonstrations.
“The utility market in ASEAN [Association of South-east Asian Nations] is vast, and one of growing importance to Hawker Pacific," Jones said. "We see this GA8 demonstration program as strategic to show first-hand the quality of the aircraft that we represent. Interest in the GA8 is very strong in the region, underpinned by the Airvan’s versatility, durability and reliability, making this utility aircraft perfectly suited for operators in this part of the world.
"We’re very much looking forward to kicking off our demonstration program next month to a variety of customers and potential customers in Asia.”