MEBA10: VLJ totally Eclipsing the past

Alptekin (pictured) envisions a rosy future for the aircraft in the Gulf region – in particular Saudi Arabia – as more entrepreneurs realise the value of using small aircraft for journeys that take several hours in a car.

He said he was “very happy” that his company was one of the few to experience growth over the last 16 months, especially in light of the battering Eclipse Aviation took when it filed for bankruptcy after producing some 270 of its VLJ. Now the resurrected company provides engineering, service and support for the existing fleet of twin-engine jets.

Alptekin expects there may be a sale at MEBA and said: “We are offering airframes with effectively zero engine time on them, which is an attractive prospect for the market.”

He stressed that he thinks the reason the original Eclipse had failed was a matter of poor marketing, rather than any fundamental problem with the aircraft or concept of a low-cost very light jet. He also pointed out that such is his belief in the aircraft that he had come to MEBA two years ago as a distributor, but is returning this time as a shareholder in the company.

A key issue for any aircraft programme is keeping its supply chain happy and active. Eclipse was recently helped in this regard by Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, which will invest into the company, likely by the end of this year.

Alptekin said: “We discovered that we have a great deal of synergy with United Technologies Corporation (Sikorsky’s parent), with several suppliers in common.” Eclipse has also created a support centre in Istanbul to cater for its existing and potential regional customer base.