PAC attracts worldwide interest

Graeme Kennedy

Saturday 17th April 2004

US and Australian certification of New Zealand's first home-grown passenger aircraft, the PAC 750XL, is boosting business for its Hamilton manufacturer.

Pacific Aerospace Corporation managing director Brian Hare said the company had 20 confirmed orders with non-refundable deposits paid and more than 250 options from buyers in Australia, the US, the UK and Europe.

"And we are starting to see options converted into orders with confirmations and deposits paid on five new aircraft as a direct result of the certifications," Hare said. "In Australia alone we are negotiating the sale of another three."

The aircraft has attracted worldwide interest, with the company website recording up to 5000 hits daily since the US Federal Aviation Administration certification.

Hare said PAC was preparing for export orders worth more than $440 million for the $1.7 million 750XL during the next 10 years and his company had hired 40 new permanent employees to handle the expected boom.

They include all 10 March graduates from the Waikato Institute of Technology's Fabrication Foundations course.

The high-performance 750XL is powered by a 750hp Pratt & Whitney engine and can carry 17 fully-kitted sky-divers to 3600m in 12 minutes or carry nine commuter passengers on five-hour sectors.

The first aircraft for Australia was delivered last week to a sky-diving operator but Hare said the 750XL's versatility and rugged construction made it ideal for operations such as carrying freight, reconnaissance, sightseeing, medical evacuations and mineral exploration.

The 750XL uses the same technology developed for PACÕs Fletcher and Cresco agricultural aircraft, including strengthened undercarriage and high-lift wing but has an enlarged fuselage to accommodate more passengers and cargo.

The new aircraft are being manufactured at PAC's Hamilton Airport plant, where 320 Fletchers, 39 Crescos and 145 CT4 Airtrainers have been built. The company has also made components for Boeing's 747 and 777, the Airbus A340 and A330 and rudders for the US Marines' tank-landing craft.

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