Libya unveils its 'Gateway to Africa'

The LIATEC facility is located at Abou Aisha airport, 60km from Tripoli and, as well as final assembly lines for single and twin-engine helicopters, it will allow the joint venture company to expand on the existing maintenance and training activities currently performed by LIATEC elsewhere in the country.

Describing the new facility as a ‘Gateway to Africa ’, LIATEC plans to use the investment to develop business elsewhere on the continent and to open up new markets for products and services.

The company was first established under an agreement signed in January 2006 and is 50 per cent owned by the Libyan Company for Aviation Industry, with 25 per cent owned by Finmeccanica and AgustaWestland respectively. Its overall aim as an industrial entity is to improve and develop aviation and electronic systems capabilities in the country.

The new facility will also enable LIATEC to expand its support and maintenance capabilities for helicopters, as well as for upgrading training and transport airplanes with the latest generation of avionic systems. The Abou Aisha plant will initially assemble four AW139s a year.

Amedeo Caporaletti, AgustaWestland chairman and member of the board of LIATEC, explained the significance of the investment: “The new plant has been established through the far-sighted strategy of Finmeccanica, AgustaWestland and the Libyan authorities who became aware of how investing in aeronautics would provide a major contribution to the growth of the nation. It will lay the foundation of the Jamahiriya aerospace industry.

“Other advanced technology sectors such as communications, transportation and homeland monitoring have benefited from this innovative way of technological co-operation already developed and performed through LIATEC since its creation few years ago. LIATEC will, in future, enable Libya to seize further business opportunities in other African countries.” 

Measuring more than 145,000m2, creation of the new facility was a major undertaking in terms of construction. Over 18,000m3 of excavations were completed during the works and the construction effort took 600,000 man-hours to complete.

LIATEC is also already offering maintenance and training services at its plant in Tajura , Libya . Support services there cover the AW119Ke, AW109 family and AW139 helicopters, but also extend to fixed-wing aircraft with capabilities including maintenance and restoration, overhaul and upgrades, helicopter interior renovation, components and spare parts supply, plus avionics and instrument maintenance.

In the training arena the company provides comprehensive capabilities such as helicopter and fixed-wing initial and advanced pilot and mission training, transition training and maintenance training for platforms and systems.

LIATEC is also promoting industrial co-operation with local industries and universities in the field of research and development. Almost all of its personnel are hired from within Libya and it is committed to employing young engineers and specialists coming from Libyan technical schools and universities.

The facility’s opening in Abou Aisha marks the latest major achievement for AgustaWestland in Libya , where the company has recently sold more than 20 helicopters including AW109 Power light twins for border patrol duties, AW119Ke single-engine aircraft for emergency medical service missions and AW139 medium twins for general security.