Pipistrel founder Ivo Boscarol has partnered with a Chinese company to build its Alpha Electro electric trainer and the hybrid version of the Panthera high-performance aircraft in a new aviation development near Nanjing. Pipistrel will retain 51 percent of Pipistrel Asia Pacific General Aviation Technology Ltd. The minority partner is Danny Wu Hao who, as his stake in the deal, will build a general aviation airport and business park from scratch over the next two years to serve as the home base for the venture. Pipistrel will sell the intellectual property and sales rights for China and 10 other Asian countries for both designs and they will be built at the new facilities, known as Project Jurong.
“During the course of the following two years, a new airport, aircraft factory, villas compound and a department of aviation university will be built in the ‘Project Jurong’ center,” Pipistrel said in a news release. “With its daughter companies, which will be established in the next months, the Pipistrel Asia-Pacific will also take care of acquisition of terrain, construction and management of a 130 hectare airport complex with all the infrastructure, tourist settlement and all the supporting activities.” Project Jurong is planned for a site about 40 miles from Nanjing, a city of 8 million near the east coast of China. It is adjacent to Jurong Lake National Park and the project is envisioned as a combined aviation and tourism hub.
