Africair extends order – Ethiopian Airlines expands Continental Diesel Fleet
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St. Egidien (Germany), 27 October 2014 – Continental Diesel Master Installation Center Africair, Inc. extends its latest order of CD-155 retrofit engine kits from three to ten. Africair equips new diesel powered Cessna 172 Skyhawks for Ethiopian Airlines Aviation Academy. The state-of-the-art diesel piston engine CD-155 is running with widely available Jet Fuel and is manufactured in the German plant of the Continental Motors Group, Ltd., an AVIC International Holding Corporation company.
“I am delighted by Africair’s decision to replace Lycoming avgas engines with Continental’s jet-fuel CD-155 engines. First and foremost, it underscores the fact diesel is the right choice, now, and for the future,” said Ken Suda, President, Continental Motors Germany. ”Not only is Africair independent from expensive, and increasingly scarce avgas in many markets, but Africair’s customers will also enjoy the benefits of CD-155’s industry-leading quality and reliability, fuel efficiency, and ease of operation.”
“Africair has a long history of supporting Ethiopian Airlines Aviation Academy dating back to 1977, when their first Skyhawk XP was delivered, and we have been continually supporting their operations ever since. Earlier this year, we delivered three diesel equipped Skyhawks to the Academy and we will be installing the Continental Diesel into seven more Cessna Skyhawk’s starting in early 2015, allowing Ethiopian, one of our most valued customers, the ability to take advantage of diesel power ownership in their flight schools,” said Lynne Keller, President of Africair, Inc.
Ethiopian Airlines will use their new Diesel 172’s to conduct flight training, averaging 6-7 hours per aircraft, per day during peak training. Recently, the Ethiopian Aviation Academy became an Authorized Training Center for the International Air Transport Association (IATA) after following a rigorous process facilitated by the IATA Training and Development Institute and the IATA Regional Office. Over a thousand candidates currently enroll in the academy per year and plans are underway to increase capacity to four thousand over the next decade. Each Cessna 172 has a computer port that allows a technician to download engine performance/operational data, which can then be easily reviewed by qualified technicians. Equipped with the Garmin 1000 avionics suite, students in the Ethiopian Airlines Aviation Academy will be able to train on the world’s most advanced platform and be able to transition easily to larger aircraft equipped with advanced glass cockpit displays. Above all, the addition of these Cessna Aircraft provides Ethiopian Airlines with a reliable, proven platform. The rugged 172 airframe has long been the preferred training aircraft throughout the world, enduring the demands imposed by rookie students for decades. Now equipped with an engine that burns readily available and inexpensive Jet-A fuel, the venerable 172 has become a necessary tool for any flight school wishing to conduct economical flight training with one of the world’s most trusted airframes. Africair and Propel have been performing diesel retrofits for more than a decade and are Master Installation Centers for Continental Motors Group.
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AVIC International Holding Corporation was set up in 1979, with majority shares owned by Aviation Industries of China (AVIC). Headquartered in Beijing, AVIC International delivered over 147 billion RMB in revenue in 2013. The company has over 70,000 employees across 400 subsidiaries and is located in over 50 countries. AVIC International is a well-diversified company, with holdings in International Civil Aviation, Trade & Logistics, Retail & High-end Consumables, Real Estate and Hotel Management, Electronics Manufacturing, and Natural Resource Development. More information can be found at www.avic-intl.cn.
Continental Motors Group, Ltd. of Hong Kong, China is a subsidiary of AVIC International Holding Corporation of Beijing, China. Its mission is to provide advanced gasoline and Jet-A piston engine products, spare parts, engine and aircraft
services, avionics equipment and repairs as well as pilot training for the general aviation marketplace. Continental is an international operation employing approximately 450 team members in Mobile and Baldwin counties, Alabama, USA; 200 team members in St. Egidien, Germany; and 8 team members in Beijing, China. More information can be found at www.continentalmotors.aero.
Africair, Inc. has been continuously engaged in aviation related activities in Africa since 1968. As the Cessna Aircraft and Bell Helicopter representative for the majority of Africa, our sales and service team supports thousands of aircraft across the continent. The Africair Group of Companies includes Tropical Aviation Distributors (the Cessna ASR for the Caribbean and portions of South America), Propel Aviation Sales & Services (an authorized Cessna, Lycoming, and Continental Diesel Service Station certified by the FAA and EASA), and Tropicars (the E-Z-GO, Gem, and Polaris distributor for the Caribbean, portions of Central and South America, and much of Africa). Our team consists of over 120 employees based in Miami, Florida, Abuja, Nigeria, Nairobi, Kenya, Luanda, Angola, Algiers, Algeria, Reims, France, and Klagenfurt, Austria. More information can be found at www.tadistributors.com and www.propelaviation.com.
Europe, Middle East, Africa:
Sebastian Wentzler
T +49-37204-6961250
C +49-173-6603347
swentzler@continentalmotors.aero
Americas:
Robin Tillery
+1-251-436-8621
+1-251-753-0237
rtillery@continentalmotors.aero
Asia-Pacific:
Terry Tan
+86-138-1059-9260
ttan@continentalmotors.aero
